Yo-de-lay-HEE-hoo, Ole! (or, the Swiss Enchiladas)

Last week, I made Swiss Enchiladas for the Lunch bunch.  As I was prepping, I was thinking about my dear friend (who shall remain nameless) who has never cut an onion.

Now, I may not be America’s Next Iron Chef and I may not have the onion cutting mad skillz of your favorite classically trained chef from the Culinary Institute or the Cordon Bleu- but I can cut an onion.  So I’m going to digress here and show you how I do it.

1. Cut off the Stem and the Root. Remove the 'paper' layer(s) on the outside of the onion.

Yes, I cried while I chopped these onions.

2. Stand the onion (use one of the cuts as a base). Cut the Onion in half from top to bottom.

I usually buy purple onions because they don’t make me cry like white or yellow ones do.

3. Lay one half of the onion on its new, flat side. Cut strips from the former tip to base.

 

4. Keep the strips lined up as in image 3. Turn your cutting board 45 degrees and chop the strips into pieces.

However, the white onion was too cheap to pass up this week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, onto the enchiladas.  I started by sauteeing my onions in my favorite cast iron pan.

1.5 Cups of onion goodness (half a white onion).

 

 

 

While the onions were cooking (for about 5 minutes),

I got the rest of my ingredients out and ready to go.

2 Small cans of chiles

1 can of Petite diced tomato

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 cups of cooked chicken breast

I added those to the skillet after the onions were browned.

Looks more ole than Swiss at this stage!

Next, I whisked together 1 cup of 2% milk and 1 Tablespoon of flour. 

(Actually it was two of each but I ended up with half left over-

which I used the next night in an impromptu Penne a la Vodka sauce.  Smart, huh?)

I whisked the milk for 10 minutes over M/H heat. My arm was tired!

 When the milk started to thicken, I added a bit of salt and took it off of the heat.

Next I filled 6 corn tortillas

(the recipe called for flour tortillas and I should have used those because they are more flexible-

but corn is better for you- what to do?)

And placed them in the casserole dish.

I grated some swiss to put on top (about a cup).

I baked it for 30 minutes at 375 degrees, until the cheese got bubbly. 

Then I put it under the broiler for another couple minutes to brown the edges.

Swiss Cheese!  Oh how I love you!