The whole enchilada!!!

I was reading email at home the other night. My mother in law sent a message asking if my wife and I were still OK with bringing enchiladas to a potluck dinner party for 14 people at her house. Since I do most of the cooking, I quickly realized it meant I was going to be responsible for making enchiladas. I got up from the computer to go ask my wife when she was going to let me know I was cooking for all these people. She gave me a little smile and said (insert pitiful, sappy sweet voice) "oh didn't I tell you...I didn't think you would mind." Needless to say, here I am with an enchilada recipe. I love this recipe for enchiladas. While cooking the filling, the sauce is created at the same time. The filling would also be great for nachos or tacos.

Enchiladas: (Enough for a 9x13 baking dish full- about 12)
1-1/2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 medium onion (chopped fine- about 1 cup)
3 cloves of garlic (pressed)
3 Tbs chili powder
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
12 ounces of chicken (use any cut you like- I use about 3-4 cubed boneless, skinless breasts)
16 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 can or about 2 ounces of diced jalapenos
8 ounces of cheddar cheese (extra sharp is great in this)
10-12 corn tortillas
Bake in a 300 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes

Begin by heating oil in a pan, cook onion for about 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat. After onion is cooked, add garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, and salt. Coat the onion with spices and cook for about 1 minute. Next stir in chicken and coat thoroughly with onion and spice mixture, cook for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium.

Add tomato sauce and water. Bring to a simmer then reduce heat just enough to maintain a simmer. Cook uncovered until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 10 minutes.

Once chicken is cooked, pour the mixture through a strainer. Press on the chicken mixture to extract as much sauce as you can. Place the chicken mix in a separate bowl.

You will end up with one bowl of chicken and onion mixture and another bowl with your sauce.

I let the chicken cool slightly. Next, I use the paddle attachment on my stand mixer to shred the chicken. Use a low to medium speed to break up the chicken. You could also shred by hand, but this is much easier.

To the now shredded chicken mixture, add the cheese, cilantro, and jalapenos. Just stir it in with a spoon. If you are dairy free, simply omit the cheese and I'm sure it will still taste great.

To prepare the tortillas for rolling, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly coat both sides of each tortilla with oil (I give each one a quick spray with PAM on each side.) Place on a cookie sheet and warm in the oven for 3-4 minutes. (This step prevents the tortillas from breaking when you roll them)

Next, spoon the filling into the warm tortilla and roll it up.

Use a 9x13 baking dish. Before putting the tortillas in the pan, pour in enough sauce to thinly cover the bottom of the baking dish. Roll all the enchiladas. Pour the remainder of the sauce over the enchiladas and sprinkle on a little extra cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 300 degree F for 20-25 minutes.

Top with sour cream. Enjoy!!!