Is it an Enchilada or Lasagna? Either way it is DELICIOUS!

One thing I hear at the lodge all the time is, “Now that we have all this fish, we have to find some way to cook it.” Followed up by “Mary, what is your favorite recipe?”  Admittedly, I have my go to recipes, fish tacos being at the top of the list.  But, every-once-in-awhile a recipe comes along that is so special it has to be shared with the world. This is one of those.

This recipe was developed and perfected by Chef Bruce a few years ago but didn’t come onto the menu until 2024…man have we been missing out.  When the original halibut enchilada recipe was proposed the idea of rolling 100's of enchiladas every week was a deal breaker.  As much as we love all of you, we didn’t want to spend extra hours in the kitchen…had I known how good this was going to be, I might have insisted!  The idea came back around to look into Halibut Enchiladas again last fall and Bruce had a stroke of GENIUS and suggested we try this as a Halibut Lasagna.  I wasn’t sure but after some trial runs with his students and some extremely tempting pictures I was all for it.  Kelly was the hard sell, and he decided to just trust us on this one!  For those of you who have had these, I apologize it took me so long and for those who have not tried this yet…What are you waiting for??

~ Enjoy Momma Mary

Halibut Enchilada/Lasagna

Yield 9X13

Ingredients:

3 pounds - Halibut diced and cooked, divided into 3 equal parts

18 - Corn Tortillas, 6 per layers

18oz – Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – 6oz per layer

9oz – Shredded Cheddar Cheese – 3oz per layer

2TBS - Canola Oil

4 Cups - Green Chili Cream Sauce plus extra for serving

Directions:

1.     Spread canola oil on bottom of 9x13 pan

2.     Spread 1 cup of Green Chili Cream Sauce onto bottom of pan

3.     1st Layer: Shingle 2 rows of 3 corn tortillas over sauce, cover tortillas with 1 cup cream sauce, 6oz Mozzarella cheese, 3oz Cheddar cheese, 1/3 of the halibut

4.     Repeat 2 more layers.

5.     Drizzle a little extra sauce and ½ cup Cheddar Cheese

6.     Cover with plastic wrap and foil, cook at 375 until internal temperature reaches 145 to 150 (approximately 1 hour)

7.     Uncover, cook until internal temp reaches 165 degrees

8.     Remove from Oven, cover with foil and let rest for 30-45 minutes before portioning and serving.

9.     Plate and top with extra Green Chili Cream Sauce

Green Chili Cream Sauce

Yield 5 quarts

1 large - Yellow Onion, finely diced

1 gallon - Milk

32 oz – Roux (2 Cup Butter and 2 cup flour)

1 large can, 26oz – Diced Green Chilies

1 TBS - Chili Powder

1tsp – Cumin

½ tsp Chipotle powder or 1TBS Chipotle base (one or the other, not both)

¼ Cup - Chicken Base (if possible, avoid Better than Bullion due to salt content)

¼ Cup – Lime Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1.     Sweat onions until translucent

2.     Add chili powder, cumin, and chipotle powder (if not using base, add base later) and stir for another minute

3.     Add milk, bring to a simmer

4.     Wisk in roux

5.     Add green chilies and finish thickening by simmering a little longer

6.     Add chicken base & lime juice (and chipotle if using the base)

7.     Season with salt and pepper to taste

*this may seem like a lot of sauce but trust the chef...it is delicious on anything, really, I promise! ~ Mary