Easy Green Chilli Enchiladas from Guest Author Iona Whishaw with Giveaway!

Vicki Delany here today with Canadian author Iona Whishaw. 

I met Iona last year when she was a guest at Women Killing It, the Canadian crime writer’s festival I am co-organizer of.  She was hugely popular with festival guests, and I was excited to be introduced to her series of historical mysteries.  The newest book has just been released and I’m excited to have this chance to introduce her to you also. 


Hi! I’m Iona Whishaw, author of the best selling Lane Winslow mysteries.  These are set in the immediate post war period of 1946/47 in a tiny community in the interior of BC near Nelson.  Lane Winslow is a 27 year-old retired British spy, who seeks to get away from it all by moving to the remotest place she can find.  Not as peaceful as she hoped, she finds her previous life follows her, but she also finds she is useful, yet annoying, to the local police because of her skills, and while she finds espionage and murder, she also finds love, and a delightful community in King’s Cove.  A Match Made For Murder, released in April, is the 7^th book.


When Lane Winslow and Inspector Darling go to Tucson for their romantic November honeymoon, in A Match Made For Murder, besides the usual mayhem that seems to follow her around, Lane encounters Mexican food for the first time.  In honour of this I’m delighted to share one of my favourite Mexican dishes, Green Chilli Enchiladas made easy for a stressed out world!  I spent much of my childhood in Mexico, and have made green tomatillo salsa from scratch, but these bottled salsas are perfect for an easy substitute.  This recipe feeds two, with leftovers for lunch the next day.

Easy Green Chilli Enchiladas 


-1 ½ - 2 or so cups shredded left over chicken, (from a roast, for example)

-roughly 2 cups freshly grated cheese, whatever you have: I used a combination of Havarti and Cheddar here,

7 or 8 corn tortillas (don’t substitute flour tortillas…everything depends on the corn flavour.)

-container of Green salsa.  Several companies make this and it is in the Mexican food section of your grocery.

Line a square (or if you’re scaling up, rectangular) baking dish lined with soaked and then wrung out parchment paper.  (thank you Jamie Oliver for this idea!) Turn oven on to 375.

Tortillas are notoriously brittle unless you’ve got them fresh the same day, so I soak and then wring out a tea towel, pile the tortillas in it and let them whir around in the microwave for one minute.  That makes them pliable and easy to use.  Keep them covered in the damp cloth as you use them one at a time.

Empty your container of green sauce into a separate pan, line up your ingredients for the assembly line: container of salsa, chicken, cheese and baking dish.   Soak each tortilla in the salsa, and, holding it in the palm of your hand, lay a row of shredded chicken down the middle, followed by some cheese.  Roll it into a sausage and place it in baking dish.  Continue till you run out of things.

Pour green salsa out of soaking dish onto enchiladas, top with a cup of cheese and slide into the oven for 40 minutes or so, till the cheese is melted and golden.  

Serve with either sour cream, or eat them as we do, with a fresh avocado and tomato salsa made with the addition of finely chopped onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt.  These are absolutely delicious!

 

You can of course fill them with beef or pork, instead of chicken, or for a vegetarian version, they are delicious with refried black beans mashed and lightly fried with onion, garlic, with a little crushed cumin and coriander seed.

Iona is offering TWO copies of A Match Made for Murder to Mystery Lovers Kitchen readers. Please leave a comment below to enter. Don't forget your email address so we can contact the winner.  US and Canada entries. Contest closes Wednesday May 13