Enchiladas Suisas

A few days ago, I had to feed two hungry Army boys, and in situations like these classic Mexican food is the best answer. Living over here in Germany, the Mexican restaurants are lacking at best, so I try to re-create the Stateside Mexican restaurants as best I can. I found this recipe for Enchiladas Suisas on www.allrecipes.com, by LadyGwyn. It was fantastic, although I made a couple of changes here and there (for example, this dish is relatively unhealthy with the use of heavy cream, so I decided not to completely destroy my arteries and ended up not frying the tortillas. They still turned out perfectly, and honestly I didn't miss the extra grease). I also omitted the tomatoes, as Will refuses to eat them. *sigh* This recipe is a little time consuming, so I recommend it for either a weekend or a day when you don't have much else going on.

Ingredients:

2 T butter
2/3 cup chopped Spanish onion
2 T all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup chopped green chile peppers
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 tsp salt
dash of ground cumin
12 (8 inch) corn torillas
canola oil for frying (again, I omitted)
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup chopped green olives (didn't use)
1 pint cherry tomatoes (didn't use)

Directions:

1. Prepare salsa verde: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft. Stir in the flour. Add the broth, then add the chiles, garlic, salt, and cumin. Simmer about 15 minutes to blend flavors, then set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.)

2. In a heavy skillet, lightly fry tortillas in shallow oil, being careful not to make them too crisp to roll. Combine the cheeses and keep 1/2 cup aside for topping. Dip each tortilla in salsa verde (both sides.) Place 2 heaping tablespoons chicken and about 2 tablespoons cheese down the center of each; roll and place seam side down in a shallow dish.

3. After all the rolled tortillas are in the dish, spoon additional salsa verde over them and then cover evenly with heavy cream. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese mixture, and with the green onions.

4. Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with the olives, cherry tomatoes, and with additional salsa on the side.