Que pasa? (is that some kind of cheese?)

Last night I was really bored, so I went back and read all my posts and realized that I asked for requests, then thoughtlessly pretended they weren't there because they all had issues. I felt really bad about that, mostly because I know you look up to me, and you've probably been eating the same dish over and over, hoping and praying that I would grace you with something that would make the birds sing, the sun shine, and bestow color in your life once again. Or you just quit reading my blog, and told all your friends on fb that I'm a stuck-up jerk who couldn't cook her way out of a paper bag. Which would be really mean, and inaccurate because who cooks in a paper bag anyway? Probably the same guy who wires foil packets filled with cheesy mushroom soup hashbrowns and weenies with bbq sauce on their air cleaners and drive 2 hours and 15 minutes only to find their dinner stretched out for the last 60 miles because foil will catch on fire if you get it hot enough.

When I say "issues", I mean I am still refining some of my recipes, and don't want to unload them on you unless I know they're gonna be good - I've tried my share of recipes that made me wonder if the person who wrote them up played pin-the-tail-on-the-ingredient to create something they thought would be good, or maybe they just have horribly deficient taste buds. So here is one for Lisa and Tyler that came from a cookbook, but is made in my own special way - lazy, ingredient deficient and stubborn as the day is long about certain things...and it is HELLA good!

Chicken Enchiladas

8 corn tortillas (I ALWAYS get the white ones, and Guerro brand are the BEST)
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 C. sour cream; regular, light, fat free or crema...I do not care
1-1/2 C. chicken broth (use a cube, paste, a can, homemade...whatEVER)
1/2 C. salsa
1 can chopped green chilis
OR
1 can chopped jalepenos IF you've a cast iron stomach & flame proof tongue
2 C. shredded jack, cheddar, Mexican or pepper jack cheese (crazy), or a mix
2 C. chopped cooked chicken, Costco-whole and DIY or they sell just the meat!
1 can sliced black olives
1 or 2 or 5 tomatoes, chopped (I just LOVE tomatoes!)

Get a salad plate and a stack of napkins or paper towels and put near the stove, putting one napkin on the plate. In a small frying pan, put about 1/4" of oil in it and heat on med-high until it starts to shimmer, then using tongs, put one tortilla in and as soon as it start to form bubbles on the surface, turn with tongs and wait 3-5 seconds before removing it to the plate with the first napkin. Put another napkin on top, then put the next tortilla in the oil. Continue until all tortillas have been softened, put a napkin on the top one to blot the excess oil. This is a deal breaker for me - I know someone (Pam) is gonna tell you that you can heat them up in the microwave/in tomato sauce/in the oven wrapped in foil/on a skillet with no oil to save on those horrid fat calories, but SONOFAGRINGO don't buy it! A corn tortilla achieves it's greatest flavor cooked gently in oil...I don't know why, but try it sometime if you don't believe me - it give is a nutty, fabulous flavor you can't get any other way...SWEARS!!

Now in a larger skillet, put the butter, onion, garlic and pepper until onion is tender. Stir flour into sour cream, add to onion mixture. Stir in broth and salsa and whisk until smooth, add chilis or jalepenos (or maybe part of them and taste it before you set fire to your entire HEAD) and cook until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Prep a square 8x8 glass pan (or whatever you have that 8 of these will fit in) by lightly greasing or spraying it. In a medium sized bowl, put chopped chicken (we're talking 1" cubes or so) and 1/2 cup of the sauce, then peel a tortilla off a napkin and sprinkle a little cheese on it, then put 1/4 cup of the filling on it and roll up. Place in pan, seam side down, then continue to fill the rest of the tortillas until the filling is gone. If there's any left over, you can soften another tortilla or two, or fry one hard until it's crunchy and make yourself a pre-dinner tostada with the filling left and some more cheese. If anyone asks what you're doing, just tell them you're checking to see if it has enough salt. Cover with remaining sauce, then bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese and put back in for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes, or just sprinkle with black olives and tomatoes over it and eat it like a man who doesn't care that the skin on the roof of his mouth will blister and hang down in shreds for a couple days because it smells SO GOOD and he hasn't eaten anything since a bag of trail mix from the vending machine at lunchtime.

Haha, this recipe makes 4 servings....in WHOSE universe?? I would probably have to quadruple it to make it a viable meal here at Casa de Moose....or include a stinkin' salad. Ever notice that when you go to a Mexican restaurant, the veggies only come to your table in salsa form or as a garnish? I rest my case....the olives and tomatoes ARE the salad, just make sure you have a never ending basket of chips and bowl of salsa and you'll be mui bueno.