Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Refried Beans, and Homemade Chicken Stock too

  After searching through my 40+ selection of cookbooks, my file boxes of stored magazines and my written recipe indexes for recipes to try (whew), I couldn't pin down a recipe I liked for these creamy enchiladas. Unbelievable huh? Well I decided to just combine a few of the ones I did come across and go with my own instinct. Glad I did! These were just what I wanted in an enchilada. The first thing I did was to boil my chicken breasts in a large stock pot. For this I quartered 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks. I tossed in the chicken breasts and vegetables and covered them with 8 cups of water. Next I tossed in about 8 whole peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. of ground thyme (our thyme plant is trying real hard to die on us), a handfull of fresh parsley, and a heaping Tblsp. of kosher salt. This I brought to a boil and then reduced to simmer for approximately 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Removed chicken to platter and let stock cool a bit. Then strained the stock into the 2 cup sized plastic take out containers (like you get at the chinese restaurants for your take out soups, you know the ones; (round, opaque-perfect for holding 2 or 4 cups of stock?) to freeze for later use. Then here's what I did to finish the enchiladas.

Shred the chicken when cool enough to handle.

Saute some onion and garlic until tender.The amount of these are up to you. More if you like or leave out if you don't like either.

I then added the chicken and 1/2 cup of the chicken stock, 2 heaping Tblsp. of chopped green jalepeno chiles, 4 oz. of softened cream cheese, 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Added a 1/2 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. chipotle chili pepper powder and a pinch of kosher salt. I also added a tsp. of cilantro paste (no fresh on hand). Stirred to combine and let simmer about 15 minutes over low heat.

Then microwaved my 12" tortilla shells so they would be pliable (you can also heat up the enchilada sauce and dip your tortillas in the warm sauce to make them pliable) and filled with chicken mixture, rolled into enchiladas and put in a 9 x 13 baking dish lightly sprayed with canola oil. Poured my can of Enchilada Sauce (next time will try a homemade version) over top and drown, I mean cover, in shredded Monterey Jack and Cheddar cheeses.

Cover with foil and bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, uncovering for the last 10 minutes. Let cool a little and top with sour cream and diced scallions.

I also made my own refried beans to go with the enchiladas.

I used one cup of  mayo coba beans , (they go by many names) and covered them with water about 3" above the beans. I also added 2 Tblsp. of rendered bacon fat, a bay leaf, a good pinch of salt (always cook with Kosher) and a smashed garlic clove. Brought to a boil and then simmered for an hour while the chicken was doing its simmering. When tender, drain and reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and put beans into a pan large enough to mash the beans with your potato masher adding reserved cooking liquid as needed to moisten to desired consistency. Turn heat on to medium low and add .. yup, you guessed it - Cheese. Cover pan and let cheese melt.

The final results: SCRUMPTEEDEELICIOUS.

And a bonus too boot, My homemade Chicken Stock. We are now set for some wonderful soups this fall/winter. However, I am sure I will need to make more of this stock before winter actually sets in here. We hope you enjoy.

Michael and Carla