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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

On Vacation with My Crock Pot! It Cooks While We Play!


Crock Pot Enchiladas with Emeril's Enchilada Sauce

When I was younger, I was a guided by rules and I followed them...exactly!  As I've gotten older, I realize that rules are only guidelines.  If you relate this to a recipe, it means that all the ingredients, amounts and cooking instructions aren't set in stone.  Use the recipe as a template...only use the ingredients you like, in the amounts your family likes and adjust the cooking time too.  I think you will like the recipe better this way also!  

For this dish, I used 2 recipes:  Crock Pot Enchiladas from Jill's Junction.com and Emeril's Easy Enchilada Sauce at Food Network.com   The following recipes are my version of each one.  If you compare them to the originals you can see how they are similar but different.  Feel free to adapt my recipes to your family.  Have fun and make them yours! 

What first drove me to this meal was my desire to find recipes that would be simple for vacation.  We love to spend all day at the beach or fishing.  As most of you know, spending a lot of time in the sun, playing in the surf all day will tire you out.  The last thing I want to do is spend a lot of time cooking in the kitchen.  My solution...the crock pot!  It cooks, while we play!  It's been awhile since I've used mine, so I needed to find a few good recipes that we would all enjoy.  

Crock Pot Enchiladas

1 large onion
1 green pepper
2 chipotle peppers in adobe sauce
1 T. minced garlic
2 t. chili powder
2 t. cumin
2 t. oregano
1 t. cayenne pepper
3 chicken breasts 
1 c. shredded cheese
2. c enchilada sauce
corn tortillas
green onion
fresh cilantro
sour cream

Put the onion, peppers and spices in the crock pot and mix together.  Place the chicken breasts on top and place the lid on top.  Turn the crock pot of low for 8 hours. 

Enchilada Sauce

2 c. chicken broth
2 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
3 T. chili powder
2 T. flour
10 oz. tomato sauce

In a large skillet, add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and the spices.  Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 15 minutes.  The sauce will be thin, so remove about 1/4 of cup of the sauce to a small bowl and gradually add 1 T. of flour with a fork.  If you have even made gravy, this is the same idea.  Add the mixture into the saucepan and continue to cook.  Play around with method until you get the consistency you want.  If you add too much flour, just add a little chicken broth or water.  

Shred the chicken from the crock pot.  Place the shredded chicken back into the crock pot and mix.  Put a layer of the enchilada sauce into a large baking dish. Put a corn tortilla in the enchilada sauce and place into the backing dish, add a generous portion of the shredded chicken mixture onto the center of the torilla, add a little cheese and gently close each side of the tortilla and flip with the seam side down in the pan.  Once all the tortillas are filled, add remaining sauce to the tops of the enchiladas.  Add shredded cheese, green onions and fresh cilantro to the top, if desired.  

Bake about 35 minutes at 350.

Serve with sour cream and guacamole...enjoy!  :D 

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