Recipe: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

In a surprising twist of coincidences, the African-Canadian author Minister Faust and I have a lot of unusual common interests, including a love of the old TV series Sledge Hammer! and also this recipe, which was one of my favorite dishes growing up, thanks to my sister sending it to my mom years ago in the 1980s. She didn't fix it often, but when she did, I made sure the whole dish was gone by the end of the night.

I'm sure it's probably an acquired taste, especially compared to many of the offerings available today, but for me, this is a wonderful find, and I appreciate Minister helping me track the recipe down once more. Now here's hoping we don't have some massive Internet outage that loses it for all time, or something.

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas or Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Mexican Cookbook, 1977

1 Cup chopped onion
1/2 Cup chopped green bell pepper
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Cups shredded cooked chicken
1 4-ounce can chopped green chiles

3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup flour
1 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 1/2 Cups chicken broth
1 Cup sour cream
1 1/2 Cups shredded monterey jack cheese
12 corn tortillas

In a large skillet or saucepan, cook onion, garlic and green pepper in the 2 tablespoons of butter until tender. Combine in a bowl with the chicken and chile peppers. Set aside.

In the same pan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Blend in flour, coriander, and salt. Stir in chicken broth all at once, whisking to prevent lumps. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Stir 1/2 cup of the sauce into the chicken mixture. Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking dish and swirl to coat. Wrap tortillas in a paper towel and microwave 30-45 seconds or until hot and pliable.

 Optional - you can opt to dip the tortillas into the hot sauce instead of heating them in the microwave as the book suggests, but this gets quite messy, so try microwaving until they're pliable enough that they won't break when rolled.

 Fill each tortilla with about 1/4 cup of the filling, placing each tortilla in the baking dish (2 rows of 6 enchiladas seems about average). Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, making sure to coat everything so it doesn't dry out. Top with remaining shredded cheese.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and just starting to brown around the edges. Makes 6 servings for normal people - 4 for folks who love this dish and can't get enough.