pollo fundido flautas...

many many years ago, actually about 26 if were getting specific.. pete and i would go to a mexican restaurant in vegas on special occasions.. it was called garcia's.. and their menu is here.. it was one of our favorites.. well one night we had just been seated when our insurance agent walked by.. she stopped and chatted and told us we had to have the pollo fundido... now pete doesn't care for cream cheese much and i wasn't a chicken eater at the time.. so we both kinda nodded and said sure sure and she said i am telling you order it you won't be disappointed.. she kinda said it mom like.. and well she was our insurance agent and if you can't trust them who can you trust so we both ordered it.. ooooohhhh eemmmmm geeee.. it was good.. we went back every week for a month.. unfortunately we moved across town from that restaurant about 23 years ago and they are actually no longer are in vegas, at least i don't think.. so sadly i haven't had pollo fundido in years 20+ years.. my brother in law used to make something similar but he grilled it and for the life of us non of us can remember what he did or how, we just all remember we loved it.. so fast forward to last week.. i was driving to work and for whatever reason started thinking about this dish.. so much so i even mentioned it on facebook, because i couldn't remember the name of the restaurant or the name of the dish just the ingredients.. well facebookers helped me out and then i couldn't stop thinking about it and how i had to make it..

the original calls for deep frying and since we are trying not to eat much fried food.. (my only exception is bww wings) i decided to bake them.. flauta like.. and let me tell you these are really good.. they will definitely be repeated.. they are so creamy and cheesy.. and the outside crispy.. seriously folks this is a definite contender!!  i knew i wanted to make these but hadn't added them to my menu for the week.. but yesterday i decided to make them so i had pete stop at the store and get a rotisserie chicken.. which worked out great.. if you have never utilized your local grocery stores pre-made rotisserie chicken your missing out.. i use them for quick dinners like this.. or sometimes as dinner.. pick up a couple chickens.. make a salad and steam some broccoli.. great dinner.. pete likes to buy them and have them in the fridge to snack on.. they really are good..

pollo fundido flautas

prep time: 10 minutes

cooking time: 25 minutes

servings: 4-5

ingredients:

1 small tub of 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temp.

2 tblsp. low fat sour cream

2 green onions, diced (green and white part)

handful of cilantro, chopped (about a heaping tblsp.)

1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and diced (you can keep the seeds in if you like more heat)

1/2 tblsp. chili powder

1 tsp. ancho chili powder

1 store bought pre-made rotisserie chicken, i pulled the skin off and removed it from the bones, it's about 2 cups..

10 burrito size flour tortillas (i used life balance)

cheddar cheese (for garnish)

pico de gallo (for garnish.. my recipe here..)

extra sour cream (for garnish)

pre heat your oven to 350 degrees (f)....now here is what i did.. i put everything in my stand mixer with paddle attachment and let it rip until all combined.. since the chicken was still hot from the store it fell apart easily in the mixer.. if you don't have a mixer or don't want to use it chop or shred  your  pre cooked chicken and combine everything in a large mixing bowl until well combined.. zap your tortillas for 10 seconds in the microwave to make them easier to work with.. line a baking sheet with foil and spray with a little pam.. take a spoonful of the chicken mixture and put down the middle of the tortilla and roll up with ends open..continue until all 10 are made.. put seem side down on the baking sheet as your making them and then when all done spray with a little pam on top of the flauta..

bake for 15 minutes in your pre heated 350 degree (f) oven.. after 15 minutes remove from oven roll the flautas over to the other side and bake an additional 7-10 minutes, or until they are evenly browned and slightly crispy.. remove from oven..

i removed 3 of the flautas and put them on a oven safe dish.. i spread sour cream on top and then sprinkled with cheddar cheese and put back in the oven for about 3 minutes or until the cheese was melted.. then removed from oven and garnished with pico de gullo.. now be careful the plate is freaking hot and so will the flautas be, pete bit into his and it brought tears to his eyes the creamy filling gets hot so be careful.. and enjoy!!!