Chicken Enchiladas — The Sunday After the Sentencing-Hearing-Reschedule

Early April. The state courthouse in Tulsa was supposed to hold Cody’s plea hearing this Monday but the courthouse rescheduled all non-urgent hearings to mid-May due to COVID. Mrs. Patel called Mama Tuesday morning with the news. The new date is May eighteenth. Six more weeks of waiting on top of the four we had already settled into. Cody took the news at the halfway house and called us Wednesday night. He sounded steadier than he had two weeks ago. The halfway house drug screens have been clean. He has been going to the recovery group on North Peoria three nights a week, the one Aunt Linda’s church helps run.

Mama had asked me Friday night at the kitchen table what I wanted for the Sunday after the reschedule news. She had said the household needed a Sunday dinner that did not announce anything dramatic. I said chicken enchiladas because the household had been asking for them all week — Mama on Tuesday, me on Wednesday at the kitchen table, Dustin on the phone Friday afternoon — and the consensus comfort meal was the right dish for the second arrest waiting-period.

Sunday afternoon I made the enchiladas. Shredded chicken (poached from a small whole chicken I had bought on managers’ special at the IGA Friday) with diced green chilies, rolled in corn tortillas, baked in red enchilada sauce with grated cheese on top. Twenty-four enchiladas across two pans. Mama had three. Dustin had four. I had two. The leftovers carried us through Wednesday lunch.

Mama’s Wednesday call was the small mid-week anchor. She talked through the cafe’s small breakfast-and-lunch numbers, the small Cody-news, the small Aunt-Linda update. The cafe is in its small steady-state rhythm. Cody is at the small operational-lead for the lunch-and-dinner rotation. Mama is on the small breakfast-and-brunch shifts. The small Sapulpa-cafe-life continues the way it has been continuing for years.

The technique-detail I always lean on: the rest at room temperature for at least twenty minutes before the small final cooking step. The rest gives the small protein-or-dough time to relax into its small final-form. Skip the rest and the texture goes wrong. Honor the rest and the texture honors you back.

Chicken Enchiladas

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 can (10 oz) red enchilada sauce, divided
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles, drained
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 8 flour tortillas (8-inch)
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
• 2 green onions, sliced, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce across the bottom.
2. Make the filling. In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, green chiles, sour cream, 3/4 cup of the cheese, garlic powder, cumin, and salt. Stir until evenly mixed.
3. Fill the tortillas. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in the prepared baking dish.
4. Top and bake. Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the rolled tortillas. Sprinkle with the remaining 3/4 cup cheese and black olives if using. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
5. Finish uncovered. Remove the foil and bake an additional 8–10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the edges are lightly golden.
6. Garnish and serve. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Top with sliced green onions and serve warm with rice, beans, or a simple salad.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 34g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 820mg