Chicken Enchiladas & Red Chili Sauce

 Ken has been holding on to this recipe from his fav site (Cooks Illustrated) to try for several years.  We finally made it and wowzers!  it was good.  I made mine completely dairy free and he used dairy.  Either way we loved it and highly recommend this easy Mexican inspired dish

Ingredients:
Sauce & Filling-

1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 med. onion, chopped fine
6 garlic cloves, pressed (about a Tbsp)
3 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sucanat (sugar)
4 chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 1/4" strips
2 -8 ounce cans of crushed tomato's
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 -4 ounce can pickled jalapenos, drained and chopped
(2 cups sharp cheddar cheese for those of you who eat dairy)*

Tortillas & toppings

10 -6" corn tortilla's
vegetable oil
1/2 head romaine lettuce, washed and shredded
2 limes, quartered
salsa or chopped tomato
(cheese and sour cream if you eat dairy)*
Guacamole-  ( I made mine with 3 avocados, pitted and diced, juice of 1 lime, 1 jalapeno pepper diced, some red pepper flakes, a bit of salt, a bit of olive oil, chopped cilantro and 1/2 small onion chopped)

Directions:

1. Start on the sauce and filling-  Heat oil in med saucepan over med/high heat until shimmering, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown (5 minutes).  Add garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, salt & sucanat, cook, stirring constantly for 30 seconds.  Add chicken, stir to coat for another 30 seconds. Add crushed tomato's & 1/4 cup water, stir to separate chicken pieces.  Bring to a roll, reduce heat to med. low and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (8 minutes).

2. Pour the mixture through a med. mesh strainer into a medium size bowl.  Use the backside of a ladle to press the chicken and onion mixture and the liquid sauce will extract.  Set the chili sauce aside.

3.  Transfer the chicken onion mixture to a plate and place in freezer to cool (10 minutes).

4.  Once cool, combine the chicken onion mixture with cilantro, jalapeno, (cheese)* in a med. bowl and set aside.

5.  Preheat oven to 300° F with rack on lower middle position.

6.  Smear a 13x9 inch baking dish with 3/4 cup chili sauce.  Set aside.

7.  Lightly spray tortillas with oil and place on baking sheet, bake for 3 minutes until soft and pliable.  Remove from oven and increase the temp. to 400° F  for the next step.

8.  Fill each tortilla with about 1/3 cup filling.  Roll each tortilla by hand and place in baking dish, side by side and seam side down. 

9.  Pour remaining chili sauce over the enchiladas.  (and sprinkle with cheese)*

10.  Cover baking dish with foil and bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes.  uncover and serve with guacamole, lettuce, lime wedges, salsa or tomato (cheese and sour cream)*

*- dairy or soy products for those of you who eat that.