Green Chili Turkey Enchiladas
One thing that my family always wanted me to do after we cooked a holiday beast (turkey) was to make enchiladas with the leftovers. I have to say that it was one of their favourite leftover meals. My original recipe I clipped out of a Sunset magazine back in the 1980's and I have to say it was pretty basic and simple.
Cooking Tex Mex over here has always been a bit of a challenge. When my friend Eliza came over from Arizona one time, she brought all kinds of tex mex stuff with her. We made Tamales, Cheese Enchiladas, Mexican Chocolate Tart, and Tacos. She had green enchilada sauce for the cheese enchiladas, something which I never thought I would see over here in the UK, until now!
TADA! I discovered this on Ocado last week. (Ocado is an online supermarket). I bought myself a few jars and some of the green chili salsa as well! I am set to go!
Of course I had to make some enchiladas with our leftover turkey from last week!
I started by creating a delicious turkey filling. You could use leftover chicken or pork if you wanted to. I shredded it and then added a few ingredients to it.
I sauteed some onion and chopped green jalapeno chilies in a bit of butter and then I added the shredded turkey and some of this Mexican seasoning. Its quite good. I like it a lot. I also added a few other things.
Garlic powder (but you could use real garlic), paprika, mild chili powder, salt, pepper and some ground cumin. Did you know that heating ground cumin in a hot skillet for a few seconds really enhances its flavour? Its true, and it does!
I wanted to add a bit of creaminess and so I added some cream cheese as well and let it all melt and meld together . That was my filling done. I don't mind saying it was quite delicious.
All I had to do was fill the tortillas then. I like wheat flour tortillas. Sometimes I make my own, but more often than not I will buy them for something like this tasty casserole.
Six inch tortillas are perfect for this. I poured some of the green enchilada sauce into the baking dish and then I started filling the tortillas and laying them on top of the sauce.
I divided the mixture between 8 tortillas, laying a strip down the centre of each and then sprinkled a heaped TBS of grated Jack cheese on top before rolling them up tightly and laying them next to each other on top of that tasty green enchilada sauce.
Once I had them all filled, rolled and tucked into bed, I covered them with a thick blanket of the rest of the green enchilada sauce.
And then the rest of the grated Jack cheese . . .
They were then ready to bake and get all scrumptious! I was practically rubbing my hands together in glee and anticipation. YES I DO SO LOVE LOVE ENCHILADAS!
We enjoyed them hot out of the oven garnished with some sour cream and sliced spring onions, and we were both in Enchilada heaven!
Best part I had 6 leftover that I wrapped up tightly and froze for future enjoyment!
Yield: 8
Green Chili Turkey Enchiladas
Rich, creamy, spicy and delicious. A great way to use up some of your leftover holiday turkey! Fabulously tasty!
ingredients:
For the Filling:
- 250g cooked turkey meat, shredded (2 cups)
- 1 tsp Mexican seasoning blend
- 1 TBS garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 large onion, peeled and minced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, trimmed, deseeded and minced
- 230g cream cheese, cut into bits (8 ounces)
You will also need:
- 8 (6-inch) soft flour tortillas
- 2 (380g) jar of green enchilada sauce (4cups)
- 230g grated Jack cheese (8 ounces) divided
instructions:
How to cook Green Chili Turkey Enchiladas
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a rectangular baking dish large enough to hold all of your enchiladas. Set aside.
- Heat the butter in a skillet. Add the onion and jalapeno peppers. Cook and stir over medium heat until the onion has turned translucent. Add the shredded turkey, garlic powder, Mexican seasoning blend, paprika, chili powder, ground cumin and salt and black pepper to taste. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Add the cream cheese and stir to melt. Remove from the heat.
- Pour about 1/2 of one jar of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the baking dish.Working with one tortilla at a time, spoon 1/8th of the turkey mixture down the centre of the tortilla. Sprinkle with 1 TBS of the cheese. Roll up tightly and place into the baking dish, seam side down. Repeat until all have been filled. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over top evenly. (You may not need it all.) Sprinkle with the remainder of the Jack cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the filling is hot and bubbling and the cheese has melted, some 30 to 35 minutes. Serve hot.
Turkey Enchiladas are just so tasty. I remember one year I had made some and had them in the freezer. My son Anthony had his friend Carly stay overnight and they were sleeping in the basement. They raided the freezer and ate the enchiladas . . . Frozen! If you can believe it! And as would happen to a very unlucky person my husband wanted to have those enchiladas for supper the next night. OF course they were no more! I found the empty tin container underneath the sofa bed when I was stripping it and putting it back together. My husband was extremely disappointed at his loss and Carly forever became known as Carlita in our house. At least they enjoyed them, and, really . . . isn't that what good cooking is all about! You really need to try these enchiladas, especially if you are a fan of Tex Mex flavours!
