I was going to post this in Amy's thread, but this recipe doesn't qualify as authentic by any stretch. So I started my own thread. This is a recipe I developed to use up the meat on chicken carcases. It is good with roasted chicken, and amazing with smoked chicken. I thought you might be interested. Just the recipe and instructions are pasted below. For my thinking on the subject, here is a link to my blog:
LinkyHere is my recipe for Leftover Chicken Enchiladas. It borrows liberally from a recipe published in Cook's Illustrated, but is different enough to call it my own.
Leftover Chicken Enchiladas
3 chicken carcases.
1 large (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 small (14 oz) can enchilada sauce
1 Tb whole cumin seeds
3 Ancho chillies, dried
3 chipotle peppers from a can of chipotles in adobo, diced
2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or put through a garlic press
1 Tb Hungarian smoked paprika
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 lb Monterey Jack Cheese (or pepper jack)
1 bunch cilantro
12 corn tortillas
In a large dutch oven, stock pot over medium heat, or slow cooker, combine the chicken carcases (they can still be frozen), tomatoes, enchilada sauce, chipotles, onions, garlic, and smoked paprika. Cover and bring to a simmer. You may need to move things around to be sure the chicken is at least half covered with liquid. Remove the stems from the Ancho chiles. Place in a coffee grinder with the cumin seeds and pulse the grinder until they are finely ground. Add 2 Tb of the resulting powder to your pot. Reserve the rest and add to taste (I generally add it all up front). Note that if you refer to skip this step (basically you are making your own fresh chili powder), you can use equivalent amounts of commercial chili powder.
On the stove top, simmer for 3-4 hours on low, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. In slow cooker, cook on low for 8 hours or so. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pick the edible meat from the carcases. If you have a dog, reserve the non-bone portions you don't want to eat for him or her. Otherwise, toss the bones and other discarded parts.
Place the edible meat in a colander over a large bowl. Pour the contents of the pot into the colander. This is a second chance to look for small bones or other unpalatable bits of meat. Discard any you find. Shred the meat finely, and press against the colander to allow as much liquid to pass through as possible. Place the shredded meat in another bowl.
Grate the cheese and coarsely chop the cilantro. Add half the cheese, all of the cilantro, and pepper to taste to the shredded meat and stir to combine. Now you have your enchilada filling (the meat) and your enchilada sauce (the strained liquid). Taste both. Add seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, more spice, more chili flavor). Some possible additions: Diced pickled jalapenos, Sriracha or other hot sauce, more chili powder, diced roasted peppers (canned or fresh).
At this point, the sauce and filling can be refrigerated to allow you to assemble the enchiladas later, at your convenience. Saving them in the refrigerator has the added benefit of solidifying the fat in the sauce, allowing it to be easily skimmed.
When ready to assemble, preheat the oven to 350. Warm the tortillas, one at a time, in a skillet on the stove top. A quick spray of oil, or a little added to the pan, makes them easier to work with. For each enchilada, take a warmed tortilla, fill with 1/12 of the filling, and roll. Place, seam down, in a 9x13 baking pan. You will have to do a little Tetris to fit them all in. I do a row of 8 or9 (as many as will fit) parallel to the short edge of the pan. Then I put the remaining 3-4 into the space parallel to the long edge of the pan. Whatever works for you. It is important not to leave big empty spaces though, as the sauce will pool there and you will end up with hard tortillas.
When the pan is full, pour the sauce over the enchiladas. Make an effort to moisten the top of all of the tortillas. Cover the pan with foil, and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven, top with remaining cheese, and return to oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is well melted. Remove from oven and serve.
I like to top with diced avocado, sour cream, and salsa, and serve with lettuce on the side.
