Enchiladas, Mike’s Bachelor-Style Enchiladas, Stacked Enchiladas, Southwest Cuisine, Southwest Food, Mexican Food

This recipe and photos are courtesy of Cynthia Detterick-Pineda of Andrews, TX. Check out more of Cynthia's Southwest Cooking Recipes.

Why is it the majority of professional chefs are men, yet there are so many bachelors that don’t cook or if they do it comes from a box or off a BBQ grill?

My brother is what I would call a “professional” bachelor. He can cook well enough to keep himself fed, and to feed a date with what might seem like a more complicated dish than these enchiladas. However, simple can be good, and these definitely are good. They are also quick, easy, and don’t mess up every pot in the kitchen. I know there are a lot of men out there who are excellent cooks, but seems the ones I know only think they are excellent cooks. They do hold a few cards that can surprise you however. This was one of those recipes my brother threw out one night when he cooked dinner at my home. All those soup based casseroles our mother made us growing up must have left an impression.

Mike’s Bachelor-Style Enchiladas

1 whole chicken fryer (2 pounds), cut into pieces
1 large onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 long green chile peppers, seeds removed and diced into ¼ pieces
3 tomatillos, husk removed and diced into small pieces
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1 (10.75 ounce) can Cream of Chicken soup
1 (10.75 ounce) can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth (remaining from the boiled chicken)
Corn tortillas
1/4 cup vegetable oil (for cooking tortillas)
2 cups grated cheese (Monterrey Jack and Colby mix works well)

In a large pot, place the cut up chicken and cover with water. Bring just to a boil over medium high heat, then lower to medium heat and cook the chicken until done (approximately 40 minutes). When the chicken is cooked, remove from heat, and drain off the water (keeping 1 cup of chicken broth for the sauce mixture); set aside.

Allow the chicken to cool enough so that you can handle it to remove the chicken from the bone. Once the chicken is removed from the bone, it can be cut into bite size pieces and kept until the final assembly, or you can mix it into the soup mixture described below.

While the chicken is cooking, prepare the salsa mixture.

In a bowl, add the onion, garlic, chile peppers, and the tomatillos. Mix together with the salt and pepper; set aside.

Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the Cream of Chicken soup, Cream of Mushroom soup, and the 1 cup of chicken broth; mix well.

Stir in the salsa mixture (you can keep some of the salsa to the side if you need to control the heat of the dish.

Turn the heat to low and allow to simmer while you prepare the tortillas.

In a separate small sauce pan over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil until it bubbles when a small piece of tortilla is places into it. To soften a corn tortilla, grab it with tongs, place it in hot corn oil in a skillet, turn almost immediately and then hold up to drain (you want to soften the tortilla not cook it). Remove to a paper towel to drain.

You can also heat them in the microwave if the oil part is a problem for you. To Microwave, place no more than 4 tortillas in at a time, arranged in a circular pattern with the edges barely overlapping. Heat for 20 seconds, turn them over and heat for 10 more seconds.

A large cast-iron frying pan can be used instead. Place tortillas, so they do not overlap, on a medium-hot cast-iron griddle or in a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. Turn frequently until soft and hot (about 30 seconds on each side).

These are served in the stacked method. Place a spoonful of the soup mixture onto the plate, cover with a tortilla, some cheese (per individual liking), and repeat the mixture, chicken, cheese then tortilla until you have the desired number of enchiladas. Top the final enchilada with more cheese, diced onion and a spoonful of salsa.

These go well with a side of guacamole or some shredded lettuce on top.

Makes 8 servings.