Post Thanksgiving Smoked Turkey Enchiladas

Without a doubt, my favorite turkey leftover is… Post Thanksgiving Smoked Turkey Enchiladas. The recipe for my Orion Cooker Smoked Turkey from this year can be found here:

https://goodpointofview.com/2023/11/24/orion-cooker-smoked-turkey/

The dining room table at the Storybook house was going to be full, so we made a double batch, which make 24 enchiladas, which needed 2 9×12 baking dishes and 2 9×9 baking dishes.

Huge thanks to my sous chef Saara who handled the chopping and construction.

The leftover turkey is minced and joins:

2 cups sour cream
2 can of diced green chili peppers. The store didn’t have any, so I used a bottle of salsa verde).
2 bags of Mexican 4 cheese (Craft makes a good one) 8 oz is
OK, but 16 oz is better.
2 cans of black beans
1 chopped onion
2 medium size can of sliced black olives (nontraditional, but it
gives it a signature taste)
3 packages of medium-sized tortillas. One package is 8 count.

You can used can sauce, but if you want to make GREAT enchiladas, make your own. It’s very easy and tastes far better.

My Enchilada Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth
4 Tbs Chili Powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 heaping tsp. garlic powder (with no salt added)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. sugar
3 Tbs corn starch
2 Tbs cayenne pepper
dried Mexican peppers to taste
4 Tbs Cholulu hot sauce (we like the citrus-y Cholulu flavor, this is optional)
1 Tbs paprika
1 tsp ground Chipotle (again, optional, but we like the hint of chipolata). I have used half a can of chipolte in adobo, which was fanstastic.
Dusting of crushed red peppers

Pour it all in a pot. Mix. Make sure your broth is still cool when you put in the starch. You may want a thicker sauce, but don’t add the starch to the heated sauce to think it up, dissolve it first in some water.

I ground up my chilies in a small food processor, but anything would work. Even a spice/coffee grinder.

Cook this over a medium-low heat. I usually start at least an hour before enchilada assembly so the flavors have a chance to meld. Don’t boil. Stir to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Pre-heat your oven to 350°

Make the enchiladas.

Put a plate on the table, plop down a tortilla. Smear on the sour cream, a table-spoon or so of all of the above ingredients. The goal is to try to run out of everything at the same time. Roll up the tortilla and place in a glass baking dish ((9″x12″ or whatever you have). You should be able to fill up one of those. I spray it down with olive oil to keep it from sticking.

Pour your sauce on top. Get everything wet. Tuck in the ends so they don’t stick up and get dry.

Top with remaining cheese.

Cook until it’s bubbly, about 40 minutes. Let sit for about 10 minutes and serve.

For lunch the next day, the 3 surviving enchiladas were put on a small pieces of aluminum for and air-fried for 8 minutes, resulting in a nice crispy cheese topping, instead of the mush that happens to microwaving an enchilada. It could be argued that a leftover air-fried enchilada is better than the first-serving.