Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Crockpot Enchiladas
I made the Crockpot Chard & Corn Enchiladas last night, and it was really good.
It made up for the dinner I made the previous night which, though it qualified as food, left Rich and me wanting to wash our tongues and kill some neurons that might have recorded the experience. I've already figured out how I would fix it, and may try later, but will wait until the memory isn't quite so painful. The woman who offered the recipe made no promises about the flavor, and we now know why. I knew it was cheesy whitebread food, but was not prepared for how much we would dislike it. I thought it would be homey and Americana. It was cheap and filling, though. After tasting it, I ate rice crispie treats for dinner that night. It is rare that I miss on a meal, and it has been years since we disliked something this much. Fortunately, the children ate it just fine, and it's all gone now.
Back to the enchiladas. Aside from nearly doubling the recipe for the filling, I made several changes. I used about three cups of cooked chicken for the meat, substituted chard for the spinach, which I chopped up into bite sized pieces, and used almost an entire large bunch of chard, frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's instead of canned, creamed corn (I just don't use that), adding a little sour cream (I would use an entire pint in the filling next time), sliced and diced a whole jalapeno, instead of measuring two tablespoons, grabbed a large handful of cilantro to mince, and added a can of olives, roughly chopped. I also used half cheddar and half pepper jack for the shredded cheeses, and upped that to about three or four cups between the filling and the topping. Also, I layered the tortillas with the filling rather than rolling them up. I would grease the bottom of the crock next time. I used the canned enchilada sauce, with a pint of sour cream for the sauce over the top. We passed salsa verde to serve with it.
I bought the sauce and the salsa, though we actually had everything at home to make them. I just didn't realize it until after I'd bought it. So, next time, they will be homemade. We didn't need to add any salt between the canned sauce, cheese and olives.
I cooked it in our 6.5 quart crockpot on high for two and a half hours, which was a touch too long. This could probably be made in the oven faster than in the crockpot, but it was deep and gooey and nice, and the crockpot is good for if you need to leave the house.
Overall a good recipe, though I've changed it a little from the original. I thought I would miss the onion and garlic I normally would put in something like this, but we really didn't. It was in the salsa and in the enchilada sauce, so I'd definitely keep it in those when I made them. I was surprised at how flavorful the filling was (I tasted it before putting it in the pot), considering I was using unseasoned chicken and adding no salt or spice. The cilantro, jalapeno, sour cream and cheeses really seasoned the chicken, corn, chard, and olives pretty nicely. This one is another keeper.
It made up for the dinner I made the previous night which, though it qualified as food, left Rich and me wanting to wash our tongues and kill some neurons that might have recorded the experience. I've already figured out how I would fix it, and may try later, but will wait until the memory isn't quite so painful. The woman who offered the recipe made no promises about the flavor, and we now know why. I knew it was cheesy whitebread food, but was not prepared for how much we would dislike it. I thought it would be homey and Americana. It was cheap and filling, though. After tasting it, I ate rice crispie treats for dinner that night. It is rare that I miss on a meal, and it has been years since we disliked something this much. Fortunately, the children ate it just fine, and it's all gone now.
Back to the enchiladas. Aside from nearly doubling the recipe for the filling, I made several changes. I used about three cups of cooked chicken for the meat, substituted chard for the spinach, which I chopped up into bite sized pieces, and used almost an entire large bunch of chard, frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's instead of canned, creamed corn (I just don't use that), adding a little sour cream (I would use an entire pint in the filling next time), sliced and diced a whole jalapeno, instead of measuring two tablespoons, grabbed a large handful of cilantro to mince, and added a can of olives, roughly chopped. I also used half cheddar and half pepper jack for the shredded cheeses, and upped that to about three or four cups between the filling and the topping. Also, I layered the tortillas with the filling rather than rolling them up. I would grease the bottom of the crock next time. I used the canned enchilada sauce, with a pint of sour cream for the sauce over the top. We passed salsa verde to serve with it.
I bought the sauce and the salsa, though we actually had everything at home to make them. I just didn't realize it until after I'd bought it. So, next time, they will be homemade. We didn't need to add any salt between the canned sauce, cheese and olives.
I cooked it in our 6.5 quart crockpot on high for two and a half hours, which was a touch too long. This could probably be made in the oven faster than in the crockpot, but it was deep and gooey and nice, and the crockpot is good for if you need to leave the house.
Overall a good recipe, though I've changed it a little from the original. I thought I would miss the onion and garlic I normally would put in something like this, but we really didn't. It was in the salsa and in the enchilada sauce, so I'd definitely keep it in those when I made them. I was surprised at how flavorful the filling was (I tasted it before putting it in the pot), considering I was using unseasoned chicken and adding no salt or spice. The cilantro, jalapeno, sour cream and cheeses really seasoned the chicken, corn, chard, and olives pretty nicely. This one is another keeper.
Labels: Homemaking, Recipes, Tales from the Kitchen
