Day 219: Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Normally I only make one kind of Chicken Enchiladas.  I posted them a while back, and you can check them out here.  I've really been spoiled having such a great recipe.  Before I really learned to cook I used to make those super creamy enchiladas made with cream of chicken soup.  I made them so often (because it was one of the few things I could actually cook) that now I can't stand the look of them.  It really gets my gag reflex going!  But the other day when I was stalking food blogs I ran across today's recipe.  It is one of the few creamy enchilada recipes that don't use cream of chicken soup, so I thought I'd give them a try.  I found them here.

Creamy Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas
10" dutch oven

Filling

1-2 chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
2 (4 oz.) cans of green chiles (lightly drained)
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese (softened and cubed)
1 can white or black beans (rinsed and drained)

Sauce

2 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
2 tablespoons flour
1/3 cup chicken broth
¼ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 can (10 ounce) green chile enchilada sauce
½ cup sour cream

8 ounces Monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
8-10 medium flour tortillas
Handful of chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and green chiles. Mix well. Add the chicken and black beans. Mix to combine. Set aside.

In a 10" dutch oven over a full spread of coals, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is bubbling and has thickened. Remove the dutch oven from the heat and stir in the enchilada sauce and sour cream.

Remove all the sauce except for a very thin layer on the bottom of the oven. Fill each tortilla with a scant ½ cup of the chicken/cream cheese filling. Top with a small handful of shredded cheese, a couple tablespoonfuls for each enchilada. Save at least 1/2 cup cheese for the top of the enchiladas. Roll the tortillas up and place seam side down in the dutch oven. Continue filling enchiladas until you use all the filling.  This should make 8-10 enchiladas.

Pour the white sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 375° for 20-30 minutes until the enchiladas are bubbling, hot and lightly browned. Use 1 1/2 rings on top and 1 ring on the bottom.  Sprinkle fresh cilantro over the top and serve.  Serves 8.

The Finished Product

I don't know how anyone gets an enchilada to look good out of the pan! 

The Review

This is a hard one for me to grade since all enchiladas are compared to our favorite recipe.  I'll try to be as objective as possible.  First, this was really easy.  Easy enough to make while camping.  I loved that it had black beans.  I also liked that the cream sauce is really light and has a nice flavor.  The whole family thought these were really good.  I'll be making these again, though not often.  Not because we didn't like them, but because we have a favorite enchilada recipe that the kids request over and over.  If you like creamy enchiladas but don't like to use canned soups then this is the recipe for you.  Its not at all spicy, it just has a great green chile flavor.  We give this one a B.