Food Musings

During my senior year in college I was fortunate enough to room with two very good cooks.  Sour Crème Chicken Enchiladas was one of the dishes that Carrie made although it was arranged at that time as regular enchiladas.  I tend to like the casserole style better as it’s easier to prepare and to dish out at a party.  You can easily change it back to enchiladas if your dinner is a bit more elegant in style.

Recently I was preparing the casserole for a friend and decided to use two separate packages of shredded pork and chicken from my freezer.  The result was really good and the pork lended a new flavor to the casserole.  Here’s a photo of it.

You can see the darker pork meat in this slice…delish!

This Mexican style casserole is always a crowd favorite and probably the recipe I prepare that is most requested.  I’ve made it so often I don’t even use the recipe anymore but when I recently made it for my family in Longmont several of them requested the recipe.   So for my lovely Colorado family (and family in Oklahoma City) your dish is served below…enjoy!

Note:  I find that, like many great casseroles, this dish is better the next day.  You may want to prepare and cook it the day before, refrigerate it, and then warm it up the next day.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole with Sour Creme  

• 1 baked whole chicken
• 1 16 oz sour crème
• 4-6 cups package mixed cheddar and jack cheese – grated
• 1/2 white diced onion
• 2 cans diced green chilies (4oz)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, or 1 tablespoon dried
• 2 cans crème of chicken soup
• 18-24 corn tortillas, cut into 1/4s
• 3 diced green onions
• vegetable oil
• chicken stock if needed

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Shred chicken
3. Mix sour crème, ½ of cheese, onion, chicken soup, green chilies, cumin and oregano in a bowl.  If the mixture seems too thick stir in some chicken stock.  Its should have a creamy consistency.
4. Combine ½ of sour crème mixture with shredded chicken
5. Warm oil, warm tortillas for a minute or so until they are soft.  Place them in layers of paper towels to soak up oil (this will take a lot of paper towels.
6. Spoon a little of the remaining sour crème mixture on bottom of a baking dish.
7. Layer ¼ of the tortillas in the dish, then spoon in chicken and sour crème mixture, then ¼ of the cheese.  Continue layering until the last layer of tortillas.
8. Top the last layer of tortillas with the remaining sour crème mixture and cheese.
9. Bake for 30 minutes
10. Top with green onions and let stand for 10 minutes or so.