I’ve watched enough episodes of Jennifer Garner’s “Pretend Cooking Show” to know that when she posts a recipe, I’ll want to make it. That rang true again when I saw an episode featuring chicken enchiladas.
Though the recipe is more like a casserole than traditional enchiladas, anything that can be made in under an hour is good enough for me.
Here’s how making it went.
The recipe calls for nine ingredients, but I added one extra.
To make the chicken enchiladas, I gathered flour tortillas, chicken, butter, a can of cream of chicken soup, green chiles, onion, celery, Monterey Jack cheese, and sour cream.
One adjustment I made was to use pepper jack cheese as well. Instead of using 2 pounds of Monterey Jack, as the original recipe calls for, I followed Garner’s recommendation to cut that amount in half and opted to use a ½ pound each of Monterey Jack and pepper jack.
Turns out, this would be the first of a few small changes I made along the way.
To start, I poached the chicken breasts.
I started the recipe by putting three boneless, skinless chicken breasts into a pot with just enough cold water to cover them, and added a little salt and pepper.
I brought the water to a boil, then turned it down to a simmer.
Next, I diced the vegetables, grated the cheese, and shredded the chicken.
While the chicken was poaching, I diced the onion and celery.
Though the recipe only called for 1 cup of diced onions, the onion I used yielded about 1 ½ cups, and I decided to use all of it.
After about 15 minutes, the chicken breasts had reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit and were ready to be shredded.
I set them aside to cool while I grated the Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheeses before shredding the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Then, I sautéed the vegetables in butter and added the chicken.
I sautéed the diced onion and celery in butter until the onion turned translucent. Then, I added the shredded chicken to the pan and mixed everything together.
In a separate bowl, I combined the ingredients for the enchilada “sauce.”
While I let the onion, celery, and chicken warm through on the stove, I combined the cream of chicken soup, green chiles, and sour cream in a bowl.
Garner said she doesn’t use as much sour cream as the recipe calls for, but I really like sour cream, so I used the full amount.
The result was a pale green mixture that wasn’t terribly appetizing to look at, but sometimes, you just have to trust the process.
With my oven pre-heating to 350 degrees, I buttered a casserole dish and spread a thin layer of the sauce across the bottom.
Then it was time to fill the tortillas with the chicken and vegetables.
I filled the flour tortillas with the chicken and vegetable mixture, rolled them, and put them seam-side down in the casserole dish.
The recipe calls for 12 tortillas, but my dish only fit nine, so that’s what I used. Depending on the size of your casserole dish and how generously you fill it, you may end up with eight to 10 tortillas.
I finished off the dish by topping the tortillas with the sauce and grated cheese before baking.
I covered the stuffed tortillas with the remaining sauce and finished them with a coat of the grated cheeses.
In the recipe, Garner sliced the cheese, but I think grated cheese provides even more coverage.
I put the casserole dish in the oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese was bubbly and browned.
The finished product was delicious, but I’d make one change next time.
I served the enchiladas with rice, beans, tortilla chips, and salsa. The end result was a tasty, hearty meal that my family enjoyed.
Although my son said the microwave reheated leftovers were delicious, I think I’ll halve the recipe next time.
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