tortillas | From the Bottom of a Wine Bottle

In case I’ve never mentioned this, you should know that I love rotisserie chickens. I take advantage of any chance I get, to pick one up and throw it into my freezer for use at another time. It truly calms me to know that I can pull one out to make dinner on any given day. I’m not sure when that started, but a full freezer and pantry can make me feel ready to tackle any obstacle that life may throw at me. Maybe that’s why I love heading off to Sam’s Club or the local grocery store… but I digress… I want to share a great, easy recipe for chicken enchiladas that can be made from a rotisserie chicken and some staples from the pantry/fridge. Doesn’t this look delicious?? CheesyRedChickenEnchiladas (1)

Here are the ingredients:

a chicken from the freezer
dry red wine (use what you like or have on hand)
one can of pinto beans (or refried beans, your choice)
your favorite salsa – one jar
chili powder
cumin
salt/pepper
flour tortillas (regular size, your favorite type)
cheese (I used an entire bag of 2% milk shredded sharp cheddar)

I pulled one of my frozen chickens out of the fridge and popped it into a large saucepan. I added about an inch of water and about the same amount of red wine and let the liquid simmer around the chicken (flipping the bird over once or twice) until the meat was warmed and the liquid was nicely seasoned from the chicken. I then lifted the chicken out of the liquid and allowed it to cool a bit before picking/shredding all the meat off the bones and poured the (now) broth into a measuring up for later use. NOTE: You can also use leftover chicken for this recipe.

I began to make the chicken mixture for inside the enchiladas. Since I didn’t have a can of refried beans, I popped a can of pinto beans into a small chopper and pulverized the beans until they were *mostly* smooth. Since I had already used the large saucepan to cook the chicken (and so I didn’t have another pan/bowl to wash), I put all the shredded chicken back into the pan. I then added the smashed beans, some salsa, a little of the reserved broth mixture, and seasonings to complete the mixture for inside the enchiladas.

To assemble the dish, I put a bit of salsa and broth mixture on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish to keep the enchiladas from sticking. Put a heaping 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture in the center of a flour tortilla, fold the close end over the mixture and pull it back to make a “roll”. Fold each side in, toward the center, and then roll the enchilada over to enclose the filling. Place the enchilada, seam-side down, in the coated baking dish and repeat until all the chicken mixture is used and the baking dish is full. I was able to make a total of 6 enchiladas with this amount of chicken/bean filling, but much will depend on how much you want to put inside each enchilada. Once all the individual enchiladas are in the baking dish, coat lightly with salsa and sprinkle with lots of cheese (I used an entire bag of shredded cheddar).

You can pop this dish in the freezer at this point if you’d like. I made this dinner in the morning and my family popped it into the oven so they had a hot dinner while I was at work. You’ll pop this dish into a preheated 350 degree oven and cook it for 30-40 minutes… cover with foil to bake and remove foil for the last 5 minutes of baking to brown the cheese a bit.

You can serve this dish with a side salad, if you like. My guys prefer to simply eat the enchiladas by themselves, so they each ate two, while I ate one when I got home. It was great to have a home-cooked meal after work and I was so glad to have taken the time to put things together. If you have the time, feel free to make this dinner in two separate dishes and pop one into the freezer for cooking later. I’ve done this often and it’s a huge help to have a meal available for those days when you don’t feel like cooking or if you want to share a meal with a friend or neighbor.

Remember… I’m never far away if you’re having trouble with one of my recipes. You can message me on Facebook (From the Bottom of a Wine Bottle) or via Twitter (@alisportshots) and I’ll get back to you asap! Enjoy!

Coming up with recipes is truly something that feeds my creativity. I love when my manager asks me to “come up with a recipe”, because it sends me into my kitchen… one of my favorite rooms in our home. This recipe came from a desire to create something using leftover chicken, yet have a meal that could be popped in the oven by whomever got home first that night.

As you can see, this looks like a “real” recipe, as opposed to most of my posts. The reason is that I plugged this recipe into “My Recipe Builder” app so I could figure out the calorie count. While I usually don’t do this when blogging, the written recipe will be included this weekend at James River Cellars’ Petit Verdot Vertical Weekend and I needed to have it look more official.

12 ounces Salsa (I used Gunther’s Spicy Black Bean Dip)
10-1/2 ounces Soup, cream of mushroom (use your favorite)
6 ounces Wine, table, red (I love the deep flavor of Petit Verdot here)
15 ounces Beans, baked, canned, plain or vegetarian
8 small tortilla (approx 4″ dia) Tortilla, corn
1 Onions, sweet, raw, diced
2 cups, chopped or diced Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, cooked, stewed
2 cups, shredded Cheese, low fat, cheddar or colby

Instructions:

Saute’ onion until softened, adding garlic if desired.
Add salsa, undiluted soup, drained and rinsed black beans, and wine. Stir in chicken and mix until flavors combine nicely.
Spray the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Cut the corn tortillas in half, then slice each half into 4 pie-shaped bites. Separate the tortilla pieces in half and spread half across the bottom of the baking pan.
Layer salsa mixture on top of the tortilla layer, then top with half the cheese.
Top cheese with the remaining tortilla pieces. Cover the tortilla pieces with the remaining salsa and top with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, until bubbly.

I found this casserole to be really tasty. I cut the casserole into 8-square shaped pieces and it was a really filling dinner. As always, you’re welcome to swap out ingredients to suit the tastes of your family… that’s the best part of making your own dinners. You can even make this into a vegetarian dish by using shredded zucchini or diced eggplant or tofu in place of the chicken. Try this sometime and let me know how you, and your family, likes this dish. We loved it!