Enchilada Casserole

 Is there ever a good way to photograph a casserole?

This dish was inspired by a pin off of pinterest. The original recipe was called something like Texas Ranch Casserole. But as soon as we ate my dish the family exclaimed, it tastes like enchiladas! Like I said, I took the original recipe as an inspiration point and made several changes. The biggest was to replace the canned soup with real cream. I kept this very mild since my kids don't like spicy food, but feel free to throw in some jalapenos or other favorite peppers to add some heat!
-Amanda

Enchilada Casserole
12 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded chicken
2 cups heavy cream
1 pablano chili
1 red bell pepper
3 stalks of celery
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp celery seed
1 can roasted tomatoes, diced
1.5 - 2 cups shredded cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
butter for sauteing in and for greasing casserole dish with

Dice onion and start it sauteing in a pat of butter. Chop celery and add it to the onion. Next dice up the bell pepper, pablano chili and garlic. Add all of that to the onion and celery. Saute until vegetables soften. Add celery seed and chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir well. Next sprinkle in the cornmeal and toss all the vegetables in it. Quickly add the heavy cream and stir. Bring to a boil. Add the can of tomatoes, undrained. Let it simmer, stirring frequently until everything thickens up. Add 1/2 to a 1/3 grated cheese. Once thickened, turn off heat and add in cooked shredded chicken.

Grease a casserole dish with butter. Cut tortillas into strips. Line one layer of dish with tortillas and some of the grated cheese. Spoon in some of the chicken-vegetable mixture. Add another layer of tortillas and repeat until you get to the top of the dish. Top with extra cheese. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

By the way, my husband came in and tasted the dish right before I added the chicken. He thought I was making a nacho cheese dip. He grabbed a tortilla chip and dipped it in and said, that it was a GREAT dip and for me to write down what I did so I could replicate it for him. So I'm obliging his request. :)