Woops! It’s been a little more than a month since I last posted. How time flies! We’ve been super busy around here. Most of my time has been occupied by studying for a big exam that’s coming up in December. I’m loving being a teaching assistant — I look forward every week to my two hour lecture. I’m also taking a professionalization course and learning so many things about academia that I was unaware of before. And so much more! (I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I had any free time!)
One of the recent highlights was a potluck with Bryan’s colleagues. I love potlucks because they’re a good time to showcase your best recipes. I also like when to see a large diversity of foods from other cultures. We had just the right recipe to fit the bill: Bryan’s Mom’s Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole! It was perfect because I was able to find fresh Anaheim chile peppers at the grocery store that week, it’s difficult to find Mexican or Southwestern food here, it’s one of our favourite meals, and I was sure it was something that no one else would contribute to the potluck. (We also made Green Chile Pepper and Tomato Soup for ourselves while I was roasting all those chile peppers).
We had a fantastic evening full of good food and fantastic company! I hope we get an invitation to the next potluck despite that Bryan has now graduated.
I’m happy to report that the dish was well-received! We took one enchilada casserole with us to the potluck and kept one at home. Good thing I made extras, because there weren’t any leftovers to bring home.
Bryan’s Mom’s Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Changes from the original recipe:
- The original recipe calls fora package of frozen “Bueno Hot Autumn Roast green chile.” These chiles aren’t available here and the closet thing I can get is fresh Anaheim peppers.
- The original recipe calls for wrapping some cheese and chicken in each of the (large size) tortillas. I could only find the small corn tortillas and opted for the casserole style used in Bryan’s Step-Father’s Red Chile and Enchilada Casserole. Thus, all the cheese went into the sauce instead of reserving some to fill the tortillas.
- The original recipe calls for a Mexican cheese blend. The blends that I found either have chili or jalapeño peppers in them, which I didn’t want because this dish is spicy enough as is… so I opted to make my own blend using Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
- I doubled the quantities because we wanted lots of leftovers for lunch!
Green Chile and Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup butter– approximate cost $0.50
- 4 (slightly rounded) tablespoons flour– approximate cost $0.25
- 1 teaspoon sea salt– approximate cost $0.05
- 4 cups whole milk– approximate cost $3.00
- 7 cups cheese (a blend of medium Cheddar and Monterrey Jack), shredded – approximate cost $9.00
- 1 onion, chopping– approximate cost $0.75
- 2.2 kilograms (4.85 pounds) fresh Anaheim (Green) chile peppers – approximate cost $20.00
Method
- Preheat your oven’s broiler.
- Roast the Anaheim chile peppers.
- Arrange the chiles in a roasting pan.
- Roast under the broiler for 5 minutes.
- Turn the chiles.
- Roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- Turn the chiles.
- Roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- Turn the chiles.
- Roast for an additional 5 minutes.
- Note: The chiles should be blackened on all sides at this point.
- Allow the chiles to cool.
- Peel the blackened skin off of the chiles.
- De-seed the chiles as necessary (more seeds = more heat).
- Chop the chiles into 1/4″ pieces and set aside.
- Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat until melted.
- Turn down the heat.
- Stir flour and sea salt into the butter.
- Stir constantly until the flour dissolves.
- Add milk.
- Stir until hot, but not boiling (the sauce should be quite thick)!
- Add cheese blend.
- Stir frequently until melted.
- Add the roasted chile pieces.
- Remove from heat.
Casserole
Ingredients
- 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) boneless, skinless chicken breasts – approximate cost $24.00
- 48 small corn tortillas – approximate cost $1.80
- Green chile and cheese sauce
- Cooking oil– approximate cost $1.00
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare the chicken.
- Bake the chicken breasts until cooked through (about 15 minutes)
- Allow the chicken to cool until you can handle it.
- Chop the chicken into small, approximately 1/4″ pieces.
- Set chicken aside.
- Prepare the corn tortillas.
- Heat 1/4″ oil in a frying pan.
- Very lightly fry the corn tortillas.
- Place on paper towels as they come our of the frying pan to remove some of the oil.
- Assemble the casserole!
- Distribute half the fried tortillas into an even layer in the bottom of 2 9×13 baking dishes (it’s ok if they overlap).
- Top with half of the chicken.
- Smother with 1/2 of the green chile and cheese sauce.
- Distribute the second half the fried tortillas into an even layer in the baking dishes.
- Top with remaining chicken.
- Cover with remaining green chile and cheese sauce.
- Note: Once assembled, you can refrigerate the casserole and bake it at another time.
- Bake about 30-45 minutes, or until the sauce begins to bubble.
- Remove from oven.
- Let stand on the counter for a few minutes.
- Serve and enjoy! (Optional: Serve with beans, rice, and flour tortillas)
Makes about 24 servings, or 2 9×13 casseroles (approximate cost: $2.51 per serving).
Wednesday Link Parties
- What’s Cooking Wednesday (hosted by Turning The Clock Back, and Confessions of an Overworked Mom)
- Cast Party Wednesday (hosted by Lady Behind the Curtain)
- Fresh Foods Wednesday (hosted by Kristy from Gastronomical Sovereignty)
- Allergy Free Wednesdays (hosted by Gluten Free Pantry, Real Food Allergy Free, The Tasty Alternative, Tessa The Domestic Diva, The Willing Cook, Gluten Freely Frugal, and Whole New Mom
- Wednesday Whatsits (hosted by White Lights on Wednesday)
- Fluster’s Creative Muster Party (hosted by Fluster Buster)