Red Sauce Chicken Enchiladas

One of my favorite local grocery stores in the heart of Huntington Station is The Food Plaza. It sells a huge assortment of fresh produce, with a lot of Mexican veggies and fruits that are hard to find. They also happen to have for some reason a lot of Mexican items, like cheeses, creams, frozen foods, and spices that are kosher.

On one of my many trips I picked a hand full of dried Ancho chili's from there large assortment of dried chili peppers. I asked the mature women at the register if I can use these to make enchilada sauce. In my broken Spanish and her broken English, she taught me how to make Red Enchilada Sauce. It's a recipe that comes out amazing and authentic every time. I thought this was a good dish to share for Cinco De Mayo!

Ingredients:

3 dried Ancho Chili Peppers

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped yellow onions

2 cloves garlic grated

3 Tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 15 ounce can tomato sauce

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper

1 1/2 pound boneless white or dark meat chicken

2 ears corn grilled and cut off the cob

4 fresh green chili peppers roasted and chopped or 1 4 ounce can fire roasted green chili's drained

20-24 6" corn tortillas

4 scallions chopped on the bias

1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

Boil the dried Ancho chili's in water till they are tender, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the water , and put the water aside in case you need to thin the enchilada sauce. Remove the stem, seed the Ancho chili's and chop in a blender.

In a sauce pan over low-medium, heat the olive oil add the onions and saute till they are translucent and limp. Add the garlic then the chili powder and cumin. Let the spices heat up and constantly stir, just a minute or two. Then add the tomato sauce, chicken broth, salt, pepper and crushed Ancho chili's from the blender.Bring it to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle pour the sauce back into the blender and pulse till you don't see and pieces of onions or Ancho chili peppers.

Grill the corn, let cool and cut the kernels off the cob. If you are using fresh green chili's make an aluminum foil pouch with the chili's in it. Roast them in a 400° oven for 45 minutes. Let them cool then stem, seed and chop them. The fresh chili's tend to be spicier. The canned fire roasted green chili's have a mild flavor.

Boil the chicken in salted water till it is cooked through. Remove and let cool. Shred the chicken in a big bowl add about 1/3 of the enchilada sauce so that all the chicken is coated. Add the corn, half the chopped scallions, and the green chili's. Toss together.

Microwave a stack of three tortillas at a time between two damp paper towels for 30 seconds on high. This will make them soft and easier to work with without cracking.

Coat the bottom of a baking dish with the red enchilada sauce. Place 1/2 to 1/2 cup of the chicken mixture and roll, placing the seam side down. Line up the enchiladas till the pan is full.Cover the enchiladas with another layer of the Red Enchilada Sauce. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro and scallions on the top.