Chicken Enchiladas, Yum.

This is one of our favorite recipes. As with all the dishes I make on a regular basis--this is more of a loose guideline, than letter of the law. You will basically need the good part of a morning or afternoon to make this. A good pointer is that you can get the whole thing ready, refrigerate it in a casserole dish, and pop it in the oven about 45 minutes before you want to eat.

And yes, I know black beans and rice are not the most Mexican choice for a side dish, but when you are in a country lacking in the Hispanic ingredient department- you do what you can.

Prep Time: 60-90 minutes depending on if chicken is already cooked
Cook Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs (about .75 kilo) uncooked boneless chicken breasts OR you can use 1 premade rotisserie chicken and shred the whole thing (should be about 4-5 cups cooked shredded chicken)
• 2 large onions- chopped
• 2 small cans green chiles (unless you live in Australia, because I still have yet to find them here)
  
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic- pressed
  
• 2 16oz. (about 800ml) cans tomato sauce/ tomato puree (in the U.S. I like Hunts brand)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 sugar
• 2 jalapenos - very finely chopped(optional)
• 6 cups milk or cream or a combination of both (but skim milk alone will not be a good choice, we're looking to cream it up a little)
  
• 10 cubes chicken bouillon
• 24-36 corn tortillas
• 3 cups shredded cheese (monterey jack, colby, cheddar-- which ever you prefer or a combo)
• 1 cup salsa
• Sour cream (optional- as an accompaniment)
  

Tip:

• You can make this one of two way- 1) traditional rolled enchiladas baked in a large casserole dish OR 2) Casserole/lasagna style-- this is the quicker version, probably saves at least 10 minutes. The below technique is for individual enchiladas. I will include below the very simple modification to make the faster casserole style dish instead.
  

Technique:

1. Saute onion in olive oil until clear, but not brown.
2. Stir in garlic, tomato sauce, salt, sugar, green chiles, jalapeno, and chicken.
   
3. Cover and simmer on low for 5 minutes.
4. In a large saucepan heat milk & dissolve bouillon cubes in it. Careful to heat on low to avoid scorching milk. Turn off when bouillion is dissolved and set aside.
5. Heat tortillas (about 10 at a time) in the microwave-- I recommend putting them on a plate with a barely moist papertowel over them for about 30-45 seconds.
6. (See note below instructions to make faster casserole style). Dip a tortilla in the milk/bouillon mixture, lay tortilla in a 9 x 12 pan, place 1-2 tablespoons chicken mixture in the middle of the tortilla, and roll it up. Place in casserole dish, seam side down, and keep in mind you will be compactly filling the pan to be lined up with enchiladas. Repeat under all chicken mixture/ tortillas are gone.
   
7. When pan is full (you may have more than one pan), use a ladle to add additional milk mixture over enchiladas casserole (generously), you should see some milk mixture on all sides of the casserole.
8. Spread salsa evenly over the top of the enchiladas.
9. Top with shredded cheese.
10. Bake at 350 degrees (that's about 180 degrees in Australia) for 25-35 minutes until top is browned and it looks delicious.
11. Serve with sour cream and salsa on the side.

**To make faster casserole style dish: (after completing up to step #5 above)

1. Dip each tortilla in milk mixture & place in 9 x 12 baking dish (you may have enough to make a 2nd 8 x 8 batch too).
2. Cover the entire bottom of pan, rip into pieces to hit all spots if necessary. We are going for a lasagna method with this version.
3. Spoon chicken mixture evenly over tortillas (you will probably have enough to make a 2nd baking pan).
4. Dip more tortillas in milk mixture and make another fully covering layer over chicken.
5. Spread a thin layer of salsa over the top.
6. Top generously with shredded cheese.
7. Go back to #10 in the original directions.