The Cooking Chronicles: Chicken Enchiladas

CNN had dubbed today “Critical Tuesday”. I prefer “Mini Super Tuesday”.

Regardless of the name, similar to the New Hampshire primary and Super Tuesday proper, I felt the need to have a proportional celebration, with food, of course. And in honour of the Lone Star state’s democratic turn, chicken enchiladas were on the menu to recognize the importance of the Hispanic vote (there is a bad joke somewhere to be made about how I could have substituted Indian or Chinese cuisine to represent Ohio, and the part of the world that their jobs are being sent to, but I’ll leave it at that). So with Mack as my ever-willing sous chef, and a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, we attempted to put together a dish that even my picky sisters would eat.

Along with the onions that Mack sauteed, some shredded rotisserie chicken, cream cheese, and a dash of cumin formed the tortilla filling. Unfortunately, the Western Family brand corn tortillas fell apart a little too easily as they were rolled, even after being warmed in the microwave. But doused in a sauce of cream cheese, condensed mushroom soup and milk, their imperfections were not noticeable.

Mack had to wait a painful 35 minutes for the dish to bake in the oven, and another 5 or so for the added Monterey Jack cheese to melt on top, but it was worth it. The corn (as opposed to flour) tortillas were a good choice, and even the overall soppiness of the dish was all right in this context. I can't doubt, however, the estimated nutrition facts listed at the end of the recipe - between the sour cream, cream cheese, Monterey Jack, and the mushroom soup, 610 calories seems like a steal. This is definitely not an everyday dish, but was a nice treat on "an historic" election evening.

Chicken Enchiladas