Smoked Turkey with Roasted Chilies Enchiladas with Verde Sauce

I got so excited when it was time to eat dinner last night that I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish. This picture of the enchiladas, right before they were put in the oven, will have to suffice. It so dark it's a horrible pic. Sorry. I considered not blogging about it but that would have been a waste as this dish is so easy to make but so amazingly flavorful!

Actually I've been holding back a little because I made a dish similar with pork instead of smoked turkey last weekend. No pics from that dish either because I brought it over to a friend's house and it was devoured lickity-split. The main thing to remember is the type of meat doesn't really matter as long as it's moist. It doesn't hurt if the meat is smoked or grilled too.

Friday the weather was spectacular. The sun was blazing causing all the icicles to melt. I got to thinking about a turkey, leg, thigh and wing I had in the freezer from a T-bird that I quartered around Thanksgiving time. I froze what I wasn't using. (By the way this was a fabulous idea because the turkey pieces that I put in the freezer to be enjoyed later were unbelievably good.)

Anyways, back to Friday. I had been dreaming of making another enchilada dish because that first one (last weekend) was so amazing. I thawed my turkey meat, set the smoker up and went to town getting the meat smoked for my dinner for the following evening. I added charcoal and wood chips to my shopping list because I've decided we don't do this enough. It was really fun (and good!).

So Friday I smoked the meat for about three hours and then put it in the oven in a casserole dish with the chicken stock, sealed with tin foil and baked at a low temperature to get the turkey to a moist, fall-off-the-bone state.

Once cooled I removed the meat from the bones and tendons, poured the juices over top and put in a Tupperware for dinner on Saturday.

Saturday I thawed some roasted chilies that we froze during the summer months. (Another really good thing to do if you're up to it!)
Around dinner time I chopped an onion, threw in the chopped chilies, and smoked turkey meat.


Grate the cheese.

Wrapped the mixture in tortillas with a little cheese and placed the enchiladas in a casserole dish. I poured a jar of Herdez brand Verde sauce over top evenly and then sprinkled with cheese. Bake and enjoy! Delish!

About 2 pounds of smoked turkey meat (I used a thigh, leg and wing)
1 large onion - roughly chopped
2 cups of roasted, coarsely chopped chilies (a mixture of ancho, poblano and jalapenos)
8 ounces monterey jack cheese shredded
8 fat free flour tortillas (or regular, I prefer fat free)
1 jar of Herdez Verde sauce (or your favorite brand)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Smoking the meat - you don't have to do it but it really is good. I smoked the meat on our smoker for three hours using a combination of apple and hickory wood chips. I then finished the meat for another two hours in the oven. (See note above.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

When I was ready to pull my casserole dish together I heat a skillet on medium high heat. Add the olive oil and toss in the onions. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper.

Add the chilies and turkey meat. Once it is heated through pull the skillet off the heat and allow to cool a little for easier handling.


Place about a cup of the meat, onion, chili mixture on each tortilla with a light sprinkling of cheese. Wrap and place in the casserole dish. Continue until you have used all the meat mixture and filled all 8 tortillas.

Drizzle the Verdes sauce over top evenly. Sprinkle the cheese that is left. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes.