My sister practically lived at El Chico's while she was attending Texas Tech (Go Tech!). She always orders "3 sour cream chicken enchiladas, no beans or rice, with soft corn tortillas and butter on the side" Then she laughs and asks if I remember burning my mouth eating one of the hot pickled carrots that they used to serve with jalapenos. Then I ask if she remembers when she and her boyfriend put beer in a bottle when I was TWO so I'd stop crying. Then she says I wouldn't let go of her leg and she was trying to make chicken fried steak for her man, and laughs again about how my head went "thunk" on her chest when they were taking me home. There is so much wrong with that but she gets off on a technicality because it was 1972 and I didn't HAVE a toddler carseat. It's her fault though that to this day if you put a bottle of beer in my hand I'm immediately calm. SO..here is her version of El Chico's sour cream enchiladas. They are in mom's cookbook and they were a hit at work recently.
yield: 1 dozen
12 corn tortillas
1/2 c. canola oil
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. chicken broth
1 c. sour cream
2 c. cooked, finely chopped chicken
2 c. shredded montery jack cheese
1/4 oz. jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped, adjust for mild or hot
Preheat oven to 425.
Heat oil in skillet and fry tortillas enough to soften and roll. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Combine melted butter, flour, and chicken broth, salt to taste and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Cool.
While sauce is cooling, divide chicken into 12 equal parts. Add chicken to each tortilla with 1 tblsp. onion and 2 tblsp cheese. Roll each tortilla and place in baking dish. After sauce has cooled, add sour cream, peppers and remaining cheese, stir. Pour over enchiladas and sprinkle with paprika. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, do not overheat because of the sour cream.
My tips: I use yellow onion and sautee them until translucent. An easy shortcut you will see in a lot of my recipes is using the meat from a roast chicken from your local supermarket. I mix the chicken, onions and cheese in a bowl and then just divide into each tortilla. If you don't want to roll the enchiladas..layer the tortillas, chicken and onions and cheese. I call them stacked enchiladas. I usually deviate a little bit from recipes out of convenience or curiosity. Enjoy and watch out for those hot pickled carrots : /
