Recently, we were feeling like Mexican and headed to one of our favorite local spots Maudie’s. Brett raved about the chicken enchiladas he ordered with a poblano cream sauce. So I figured I needed to come up with my own version; I had a feeling it wasn’t too hard and could certainly be done for less than $7.50 a serving.

My recipe involves my new favorite way to do shredded chicken. Just take four boneless skinless chicken breasts, lay in the bottom of a slow cooker (and I always use a slow cooker liner), cover with around 1 3/4 cups of liquid, set on low for 7 hours and relax! When it’s done, just take the chicken out and shred it with forks. If you’re going to use the liquid left as a sauce, skim off as much fat as possible then put the shredded chicken back in the slow cooker with about 1 cup of liquid and cook on high for 15 minutes. I have done this several times with different liquids and seasonings, all tasty. I’ve done Frank’s hot sauce, beer, and this time I used chicken stock and a couple tablespoons of fajita seasoning. Really easy process with versatility, and no heating up a grill or stove.

And a word about poblanos – they are a very mild pepper, only slightly spicier than a green pepper, far below a jalapeno. So don’t be scared, they’re good flavor!

Chicken Enchiladas with Poblano Cream Sauce

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (according to above directions)
• 16 tortillas
• 2 c. shredded cheese of choice
• 2 T. butter
• 2 poblano peppers, seeded, diced
• 2 T. flour
• 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 1/2 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 350.
To make cream sauce, saute diced peppers in butter until tender. Add flour and stir until smooth. Add chicken stock and stir until thickened. Add sour cream gradually, stirring until sauce is thick and smooth.
Spray two 9×13 pans. Put shredded chicken in tortillas, roll, and place in pans. Sprinkle cheese evenly on top – 1 c. per pan – then bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Take out of oven and pour cream sauce on top. Return to oven for another 10 minutes.

Since these quantities make two pans, it’s perfect to take one to a friend’s house who just had a baby (what I did) or stick in the freezer for later. And it comes out to around 75 cents per enchilada, not bad! And my tortillas came in a pack of 20 – this left four for me to grab some extra chicken and cheese and make some chicken quesadillas for the toddler palate.

This is a have-again at our house! Unfortunately, you have no picture because enchiladas are really not photogenic. But the most important thing is that they’re tasty.