Enchilada Casserole and Sauce

From the Crum Family Cookbook ("Something Good To Eat" p. 53) to you.  It has become a favorite of ours.  The enchilada sauce I got from Walter Foote, who introduced me to the joys of red chili-pepper paste, which comes in a little styrofoam tub, available at Wal-Mart.  Walt buys his from the freezer of some guy in the Gila Valley, but that's harder to find.

This enchilada dish is not as authentic as "real" enchiladas, but it is fast to prepare, feeds a lot of people, and always gets good comments.  

The original calls for corn tortillas "softened" in hot oil.  As this is time consuming and oily, I experimented and finally settled on using those pre-fried, crispy corn tortillas they sell all stacked up in a tube.  These also come in pre-seasoned varieties, which work well.

Ingredients

Crispy corn tortillas (aka tostada shells)	1 Pkg (15-20)
Green pepper	1, chopped
Soup, cream of chicken or mushroom	2 cans
Onion	1, chopped
Cheese	1 lb, grated
Evaporaed milk	1 can
Green chilis	1 can (or more, to taste)
Chicken	1 (the fryers from Bashes or Costco work well)
Sour Cream	8 oz.

Process

• In a saucepan, combine green peppers, soup, onions, green chilis and evap. milk.
• Heat until bubbly.
• Fold in chicken and sour cream
• Put down a layer of tortillas in a large baking dish
• Pour on soup mixture, top with cheese
• Repeat layers and build it up
• Top with cheese (optionally -- let stand in the fridge, overnight)
• Heat at 350 deg. for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Enchilada Sauce a'la Walt Foote

• In a saucepan, make a siimple roux with 2 T flour + 1 T butter + garlic (minced)
• Dump in the frozen chili paste + 1 Cup of water
• Allow to bubble and get hot.