Fresh | A Midwestern take on enchiladas

Last month I wrote about my favorite cookbooks, about going back to cooking before the Internet. This month I want to share a recipe that my parents made me as a child, one of the first I learned to cook. It's not from any cookbook, it's a family recipe.

They're not traditional Mexican enchiladas, rather, they are traditional Midwesterner-white-girl-texmex enchiladas. And they are delicious.

Start with some chicken. You can use it pretty much however you want. I use about 4 skinless boneless breasts, although dark meat would work too, even meat from a whole chicken. Cook the chicken. You could boil a whole chicken, I just cooked the four breasts in a cast iron skillet with a lid, adding some water to help things along. You don't want to have any part of the chicken crispy. Dice about half an onion (red or sweet) and throw that in when the chicken is almost done cooking.

While the chicken is cooking, grate some cheddar cheese. This is kind of a matter of taste. I used about two big handfuls. I'm not sure what the precise measurement would be. Three cups? When the chicken is done, shred it with your fingers or rough chop it into small pieces with a knife. The texture is the key to this dish. You want the insides to be creamy and gooey, so make everything small. In a bowl combine most of the cheese, the chicken, about 8 oz sour cream (half a large container) and half of a 4 oz. can of diced green chilies. Mush it all together.

Next is the construction phase. Open a can of Old El Paso mild red enchilada sauce. This is very important, the key to the dish, I think. Once, my mom tried to make her own sauce and it wasn't at all the same.

About as successful as trying to get two young girls to eat quinoa for the first time:

"What is this, Mom?"

"It's a South American grain."

"And we're supposed to eat it? Can you make noodles instead?"

I digress. Holding a flour tortilla in one hand (I used whole wheat this time, the traditional Gettys way calls for white) glop a couple spoonfuls of chicken mixture in the middle and spread it out. Then pour a line of sauce down the middle. Roll it up and stick it in the pan. Repeat until you've run out of chicken, making sure the enchiladas are tucked up tight next to each other. When you're done, you should have about half a can of sauce left. Pour this over the enchiladas, leaving the ends without sauce, and sprinkle a bit of cheese on them. Pop them in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, until everything is melted and the ends of the rolled enchiladas are browning.

Like I said, texture is key to this dish. By leaving the ends of the tortillas without sauce, they turn crispy, while the middles are delightfully squishy.

Last year, in some diet phase of mine, I also invented a dessert that pairs nicely with this non-diet dish. After a month of eating sugar-free Jell-o instant pudding, I had to come up with some way to change it up a little. Inspired by a fancy chili dark chocolate bar I'd tried, I tried this twist on the pudding. Mix up a small box of chocolate fudge instant sugar-free pudding. Stir in 1 tsp. chili powder and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. It adds a little unexpected kick that pairs nicely with any meal that includes Mexican or quasi-Mexican food.

Enjoy!

* Fresh is a photo/food column by Yakima Herald-Republic photographer Sara Gettys.