Oregon Transplant: Sour Cream and Chicken Enchiladas

I am a friggin' mess today. For whatever reason (I suspect because the little bro left, sad) I've woken up out of sorts. You know, just one of those days where you drag your butt from bed only to start blubbering over your cup of coffee? And then have 3 dogs looking at you like they might be preparing to commit you as you sit there looking like a hot mess in your pajamas, glasses askew, scrunchie bun on top of your head?

Yeah, today is one of those days. Girls, I know we all have em'.

I think the bad mood is also related to a situation we've had going on here at the homestead. 3 days ago, I thought I had a brazen hawk in the yard. I opened the front door to find it perched on our fence about 20 yards away. And it didn't move as I got closer (I was able to get some amazing photos of it this way, though). Long story short, the hawk hadn't left the yard in days. And it never flew, it hopped. The hubby's uncle said he saw it try to fly but it apparently has a hurt wing. So on Monday, I had the hubby call the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. They said they would pick it up that day at 3, but no one ever showed up.

What is with customer service in this area of the country???

Come Tuesday morning, the hawk is still in the yard, sitting on our woodpile. The hubby calls the Department of Fish and Wildlife again, and this time is told someone will call him back. No one called. I felt sorry for the hawk, since I don't think he'd ate since he got hurt. We ended up feeding him some chicken livers. He actually let me get about 5 ft away to toss him some livers. He seemed pretty satisfied with those as he wolfed them down. I think he got some strength, because the last I saw of him, he was hopping into the neighbors yard.

Now, we did get a call from the DOFW later in the day yesterday. They said if we see the bird again to call a rehabilitator that is located about an hour from us, and they would come pick him up. Since I haven't seen the hawk since yesterday morning, I'm feeling like their actions are too little, too late. I hate how no one seems to care. All would have been good if they had come on Monday like they said they would.

Ok, I know I feed an array of little birds on the homestead, so a hawk is not something I want around. I just wanted to help him. I'm just hoping for the best at this point.

Ok. Enough of that. Let's talk enchiladas!

My Cheese Enchiladas with Chili Gravy have turned out to be one of the most popular recipes on the blog. An unexpected, but delightful turn of events. Now that I've got my Chili Gravy down, I've been wanting to perfect a regular enchilada sauce. I can't stand store-bought canned sauce because it's too sweet. Sweet enchilada sauce was the reason I thought I hated enchiladas for so many years. Nope, I just hate the sweet sauce.

For me, that's kind of a catch 22. I generally find when working with something tomato based, you do need a smidgen of sugar to tone down the acidity. I found that to be true with this sauce, however, the amount of sugar HAS to be small enough that you cannot taste it. Has to, has to, HAS TO. I cannot emphasize that enough. I find that 1/2 tsp is sufficient, and not a granule more.

That being said, I am in love with this sauce. It's light. It's savory. It's perfectly balanced and tastes a hundred times better than store-bought. You could can the sauce. You could freeze the sauce. Heck, you can just make the sauce the day before and save yourself some minutes at dinnertime.

As for the filling, does it really get better than shredded chicken mixed with some tangy sour cream and plenty of cheese?

I'll tell you right now, no, it does not :)

As always, I pile lettuce and tomatoes on mine. Childhood habit. And the only way I eat enchiladas!

I drizzled more sour cream on top of my enchiladas, because hey, it's my dinner and I can if I want to.

Just to let everyone know, the mattress was delivered yesterday! Whoop whoop! I plan on taking pictures today, hopefully to share tomorrow. If not, I'll share pictures this weekend. We love the bed, and I can't believe how great my back feels today! I'm starting to wonder if our old bed was not supportive enough... At any rate, we are 2 very satisfied customers :)

Happy Hump Day!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

Sauce-

2 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp flour

2 cups water

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup tomato paste

1/4 cup tomato sauce

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp Mexican oregano

1/2 tsp sugar

Enchiladas-

4-6 flour or corn tortillas, burrito-size

2 cups cooked chicken, shredded

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded cheese, plus more for topping

Garnish- lettuce, tomato, more sour cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat to 350º. Coat an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray, set aside.

2. Make the sauce- heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When warm, add flour. Cook for 1-2 minutes. In slow additions and whisking continually, add the water. When the water is thoroughly mixed in, slowly add the chicken broth. Once incorporated, add the tomato paste and sauce, chili powder, cumin, onion and garlic powder, salt, oregano, and sugar. Continually stir until spices are incorporated. Bring sauce to a boil, then lower heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. In a small mixing bowl, combine chicken, sour cream, and cheese. Stir to combine. Place tortillas on a plate, cover with a damp paper towel, and microwave for 30 seconds. To construct enchiladas, spoon about 1/2 cup of chicken mixture onto warmed tortilla, then roll tortilla up. Place seam side down in the pan. I usually put a little more filling in mine when I'm just making 4 enchiladas, so they fill up the pan. Use less filling if you are making 6.

4. Once all tortillas are in the pan, cover them with sauce. Top with more shredded cheese, and then bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and serve immediately with toppings, if desired.

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