Creamy Chicken Enchiladas with Jamaica Mole

Instructions

1. The first thing you’ll want to do is poach the chicken for the enchiladas. Place chicken in a large stock pot. Add onions, Jamaica flowers, garlic, ginger, salt, and bay leaves. Fill with water until it covers chicken by 2 inches.
2. Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and let cook until chicken is falling off the bone, at least 1 hour.
3. Remove chicken from broth and let sit until cool enough to handle. Once chicken is cool, remove all skin and bones and shred the meat. This can be done up to 3 days in advance.
4. Strain broth into a heatproof container. Remove bay leaves from the strainer and combine the rest of the ingredients in the strainer with the shredded chicken. Reserve broth for the mole sauce if making right away or store in sealable container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Broth can also be frozen for up to 6 months.
5. To make the mole sauce; bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Place chiles and prunes in a medium heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave to soak until very soft, about 20-30 minutes. Drain.
6. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, add onions and season with salt. Fry until starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and cook a couple minutes more. Add Jamaica flowers and pears, season again with salt. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are caramelized and soft.
7. In three batches in a blender, add a third of the chiles and prunes, a third of the sautéed vegetables, a third of the toasted pecans, and about 1 cup of chicken broth. Blend on high until very smooth. Transfer to a bowl and repeat until all ingredients are blended. You will have extra broth which you
8. Taste mole sauce and add more salt if needed. Set aside if making enchiladas right away or cover tightly and refrigerate for up to a week. Mole can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
9. To make the enchiladas: Heat oven to 400°F. Stir cream into shredded chicken mixture and set aside. Have a large plate and a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or large baking sheet ready.
10. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once shimmering, carefully add mole sauce (it will spatter!!) and stir, frying the sauce in the oil until toasted and the color has darkened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat and keep sauce at a simmer.
11. Heat remaining oil in a separate large frying pan over medium heat. The oil needs to be shimmering and roughly about 325°F. If you have a thermometer, great, use it! If not stick one edge of a tortilla in the oil, bubbles should surround the tortilla within a few seconds; if not, wait a bit longer for the oil to heat up.
12. Once oil is hot enough, carefully slide one tortilla in the oil and fry on one side until toasted around the edges, about 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side 1-2 minutes more.
13. Using tongs, slide the fried tortilla into the simmering mole sauce. Flip tortilla around until coated with sauce. Transfer to the baking sheet. Fill with about ¼ cup of the chicken filling, roll up and place enchilada, seam-side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
14. Spoon remaining mole sauce over enchiladas and bake until bubbly and crispy on the edges, about 15 minutes.
15. Sprinkle with onions and cheese and serve.