May 14, 2019

Enchiladas Post (includes recipe).

Teach Your Kids How To Cook

I made enchiladas a few days ago:
Image
I'd apologize for the rusty stove top. But it's not my stove. It came with the house and there's not much we can do with what it looks like. We clean it but it never looks clean.

I wasn't taught how to cook by my mom. My dad, it was a point of pride as a man that he didn't know how to cook a lot.
Since I didn't have any at home cooking lesson. I went where any millennial would go -- YouTube and cooking blogs. I found one where with the enchilada sauce they put cream cheese in it. So, that's what I did. I'm not doing that again, I'm just going to prep regular never wrong enchilada sauce like I knew I should have

I forgot to take the chicken out of the fridge

I woke up late and forgot to take the chicken out of the fridge. Like our stove the fridge came with the rent house. It sucks, you can take things out of the freezer and it'll continue freezing in the fridge. So, to quicken things I googled if I could defrost the chicken in a crock pot. Thankfully, you can, so that's what I did.

I learned that you shouldn't start seasoning until after chicken or anything really is no longer frozen. Thank God for the internet.
Image

I started to freakout thinking I put too much seasoning in this.

Every 1.5 I'd throw more cayenne & garlic salt. At one point I accidentally peppered it and put cinnamon in it. At the end of this it was a gurgling red-pink thing from everything. I was weirded out that everything red I put in here turned pink. And, hoped it wasn't a bad sign. But then I did add salt, pepper, garlic salt, cayenne and taco seasoning by the end of its time in the pot. So who knows (probably someone that isn't me).

No one in my family or anyone on internet would reassure me.

So, I would ask for advice on the internet or my family. No one was HELPING. Which didn't help my anxiety at all. By the time the chicken was out of the crock pot some of it not only thawed but also cooked.
Image
For my boyfriend to be able to eat this by the time he got home.. I had to take it to the oven to cook.
I put more seasoning and cooked it in the liquid from the crockpot. I started to wonder if I was supposed to use butter at all. I'm so used to home cooked meals having butter in some form that I wasn't sure. My sister started handing out advice AFTER I COOKED THE MEAL. AFTER. Not,y'know, when I was asking for it.

After I took a picture I put more seasoning on this. My anxiety levels to settle it was just: PUT MORE ON IT WHO CARES AT THIS POINT( I did). Then, I watched a YouTube video where they're all: If you use flour tortillas you're going to get soggy enchiladas. Which tortillas do you think my boyfriend purchased? So, there went my anxiety again. I don't know why, it's not like I was making this to win a cooking show or serving this to someone I wanted to hire me.

I was just more concerned about not killing anyone who I fed this to.
Image
What they looked like after I rolled the tortillas with chicken and cheese.
The cream cheese gave my sauce this funky color. It was orange. It was as thick as they said it would become. I shouldn't have put it in. But I was splicing together recipes to get something edible. And, I like cream cheese so I mean I figured may as well.
Image
It was edible and no one died.
My boyfriend went for seconds. I walked some over to my sisters house so she could eat some. I sent some home with my other sister the day after that. So, it was a win. I plan on seasoning the chicken even more and not ever putting cream cheese in an enchilada recipe ever again.
The day after we made BBQ chicken sandwiches with the leftover chicken from this. It was good, like, my enchiladas were the right amount of spicy. But combined with the BBQ sauce it added to it so much.
This was my first time cooking with chicken, a crock pot and making enchiladas. I hope you all have parents who help you learned how to cook so you're not an almost-30 year old having a panic attack for half a Saturday. This took like, roughly six hours to cook because I forgot to defrost the chicken.

Recipe:

Links are Amazon Affiliate thank you!

2 packages of boneless breast chicken (Or something? just make sure it's boneless)
2 packets of taco seasoning (McCormick but sadly, they're non-GMO)
8 oz of cream cheese (I don't recommend this at all).
Chicken broth but I didn't have any so I used water
Garlic Salt (I'd recommend anyone who doesn't promote NON-GMO).
Lemon juice (I used realemon that I bought for another dish that I never made). I just put enough to smell just a hint of it
Ground red pepper - McCromick ..sadly they're NONGMO labeled, too
Pepper - McCromick ..sadly they're NONGMO labeled, too.
Olives - I used a lot because I like olives I even mixed it in the sauce then added more before cooking. Any that aren't NONGMO.
Tortillas - Honestly flour or corn. Warm the corn ones up though so they' don't crack. Don't over sauce flour because they start ripping when rolling after dipping it in sauce.
3 Mexican shredded cheese. Or the 4 one,really. This also tastes good on top of goulash (I know not this recipe but it's a good cheese blend.)
Cinnamon (Powder and it was accidental. thankfully iddn't make a difference taste wise).
Enchilada Sauce

Chicken:
gently placed in a crockpot filled with water (or chicken broth if you remembered to buy some). Crockpot put on high, put 1 packet of taco seasoning in. Then every 1.5 hours garlic salt, cayenne, pepper and some lemon juice. Can be finished in the oven if you're running out of crockpot time and it's almost dinner time. In oven: High, 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Then can lower that to 350-300 for another 30 minutes. Check to make sure it's cooked thoroughly and don't assume the time + temperature I'm giving is the right one for you. Mine cooked at 400 degrees in 30 minutes after sitting in the crockpot for over two hours. SO.

Shred the fuck out of the chicken once it's out. Get busy with it, shredded to perfection is the best of bets.

Enchilada sauce:
I didn't make homemade I bought it -- anything that isn't NONGMO. Heat it up, throw some olives in (not a half to I just really like olives), cut 8 oz of cream cheese in (don't do this part), taco seasoning ( just do 2 packets of this on the chicken not the sauce).

Flour tortillas: You didn't buy corn sooo. Don't oversauce, the tortilla will start ripping from the sauce. Otherwise, dip in sauce then throw cooked chicken, and cheese, roll. Place in pan. Realize that you made too many pre-dipped tortillas that can't fit in the pan. Ignore them and keep going.

Corn: heat them up before you start rolling they'll probably crack on you otherwise.

Cook for another 30 minutes to bind everything together. Pray, and then eat.
Just make sure everything is cooked, that you washed your hands throughout the meal making, and that you enjoy the experience. Whether you follow this recipe or not... just have fun. And, remember if you followed this recipe but changed a bunch of shit it's no longer this recipe. K,thx.





No comments:

Post a Comment

Please keep comments on topic and polite. May disagree with review just not attack anyone for opinions. Thank you. Please keep remarks all age appropriate. Appreciate it.