Christmas Eve Traditions

by Cindi Sutter, Founder & Editor Spirited Table®

My state of birth is Texas, to be specific, I was born in Corpus Christi. At a very early age, my paternal grandfather taught me that the only way in which to eat your eggs, was with a healthy (++) portion of hot sauce, or at a minimum, pico de gallo poured all over the egg dish. So my palate is a bit skewed toward fire! One tradition I like to hang on to is Mexican food on Christmas Eve. I was dying for some Tex-Mex tonight. Yes, I jumped the gun on that rule today.

The first snowstorm of winter began about 10 this morning and I had some last-minute gift deliveries. When I got home, I made my Northern husband with a (not so hot palette) Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. The great thing about this recipe is your ability to adjust each enchilada to the requested heat component, with less or more of the sauce. You can certainly try the recipe above, but below I’ve adjusted it a bit, to save you time. Skip boiling a chicken and buy a rotisserie chicken instead. (my chef-ish) husband says the best is at Costco). You can also skip all recipe ingredients (from the link above) beginning with the green chiles down to the avocado.

If you’re serving a crowd, you can make Guacamole, black beans, and Mexican rice for the sides, but tonight we just had 2 enchiladas with a glass of wine, and it was the perfect amount.

I know, you’re thinking why did I provide you with the long version of this recipe. Well, sometimes it’s fun to try making it two different ways. But here’s my newly shortened version.

Ingredients

Fronterra Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Sauce (in a bag-ish package)

1 rotisserie chicken meat cut lengthwise or shredded

Monterrey Jack cheese shredded

Mexican Blend cheese shredded

White onion

Flour or Corn Tortillas

Instructions

The process of creating the enchilada happens fast. So, have your chicken shredded or sliced vertically in a pile, next to your cooktop. Open the two kinds of cheese and have them close by. Caramelize an onion, add about 1 1/2 Tbsp to each enchilada. Include them inside the enchilada or once it’s rolled and in the pan, place it on top, or both! The high labor piece of this recipe was preparing the green chile sauce, it literally took forever. Well, guess what, Fronterra Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Sauce is just as good and all you do is buy it in a bag, cut the bag and pour the quantities you prefer. Hoo-rah! Also, have your pyrex pan next to the cooktop.

If you have a tortilla press use it; but a skillet that’s a bit larger than the flour tortilla works perfectly. Heat the skillet over medium to high heat and add butter. Place one tortilla in the skillet, and when it starts to puff a little, flip it over, and cook a minute or two till it puffs again. Take it out and place it in the pyrex, add chicken, Mexican blend of cheeses, Fronterra Green Sauce, onions, and roll it up. When you’ve filled the pan with the enchiladas, top them with…you guessed it, more Fronterra sauce, and the Monterrey Jack cheese.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes; this totally depends on your quantities, so watch them and remove them when they’re bubbling.

I hope your Christmas Eve is full of food, family, fun, and lasting traditions.