Slow Cooker Sunday! Smothered Colorado Enchiladas!

Tags

slow cooker sunday, burritos, slow cooker burrito, chile Colorado burrito, chile Colorado, red enchilada sauce, tortillas

Each bite was incredibly satisfying.

We took this one step further and melted the cheese in the oven and made it more of an enchilada… it was amazing!

If you are looking for a great alternative to ground beef tacos, then this shredded beef is one worth trying! The sauce turns out really tasty and you can add a bit of cayenne pepper to spice it up a bit and add all of your favorite toppings to make it all your own.

Being somewhat traditionalists when it comes to burritos and enchiladas, we went with chopped tomatoes and lettuce with a dollop of creme fraiche – a perfect and simple accompaniment that allowed us to really enjoy the flavor of the meat.

This is such a time saver to make in a slow cooker and you can do all those things you don’t get to do while your kids are napping like sit on the couch and catch-up on the Kardashians err world news and eat samoas cookies without having to hide them from view of the youngins…

Keep in mind that the meat can sit for even as long as an extra couple of hours if it’s done cooking early or you just can’t get to it right when it’s done but if you try the meat before it’s reached tender perfection, then you will probably be disappointed in the results and curse me under your breath and we both know that won’t be pleasant…

However, I’m most willing to bet a hundred dollars (at least) that you will think this is muy de-li-ci-oso!

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lb beef stew meat
• two 19 oz cans of red enchilada sauce
• 2 beef bouillon cubes or gel
• one can of refried beans
• 5-7 burrito size tortillas (we prefer corn but flour tortillas will work just as well)
• 2 C shredded cheese of your choice

Put the beef in the slow cooker. Top with the bouillon cubes/gel and all of the enchilada sauce.

Cook on LOW for 7-8 HOURS until it is fork-tender.

When the beef falls apart with the fork, taste for salt. Stir the refried beans with 1-2 tsp of water in a bowl.

Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F.

In a oven-going casserole dish, spoon a few tablespoons worth of the sauce the meat cooked in then lay the tortillas inside, one next to the other (we generally get about 6-8 tortillas to fit comfortably. Smear a layer of refried beans on the bottom of each tortilla then top with the shredded beef, spooning a bit more of the sauce over the beef before closing the tortilla and moving on to the next tortilla until all the beef has been used up.

the afternoon sun cast some fun shadows on the dish!

Spoon more of the enchilada sauce that the beef was cooked in over all of the closed tortillas. We used up all of our sauce, since it was such a luscious and tasty one! Then cover the top of all of the tortillas with cheese. We like to use a mix of all the cheeses we have in the fridge – just use your favorite and make sure you cover the top.

refried beans mixed with 2 TBS of water to loosen them up a bit.

the tortillas awaiting the beans and meat!

Bake the enchiladas until the cheese has completely melted and turned a light golden brown.

taken in artificial light… doesn’t look great but the top was crunchy with melty cheese all over… PERFECTION!

Serve with your favorite burrito toppings: sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, etc. and enjoy piping hot!

Slow Cooker Sunday! Oxtail Curry!

Tags

braising, cardamom pods, curry, oxtail, oxtail curry, slow cooker, slow cooker oxtail, slow cooker sunday, veal shanks

I’m all about finding anything other than your typical beef roast or chicken recipes for the slow-cooker and this one was a delightful change – oxtail!

It also turns out that oxtail is a fairly inexpensive cut, and in many places it is a very cheap cut – which makes it economical as well as shockingly delicious! The slow cooker is a great way to cook oxtail due to all the marbling, cooking it slowly throughout the day will cause the marbling to break down and make a rich and luscious sauce and melt-in-your-mouth meat for dinner.

Essentially?

Perfection! At it’s height!

crushing spices is a great time to catch up on some reading!

This makes an incredibly mild curry, we added a teaspoon of red cayenne pepper at the end to the sauce, which added just the bit of heat and complexity that it needed to be amazing, not just great.

Feel free to serve this over roasted potatoes, rice, couscous or pasta – this has a very accessible flavor profile that just goes with anything you are feeling up to. You can even double the carrots if you like. We served ours over rice with a side of steamed broccoli – we just felt like we needed more veggies at the end of the day.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C flour
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 TBS ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp ground allspice
• 6 large pieces oxtail (about 6 oz each), we went with two pieces that were roughly 2 lbs combined and that was a perfect portion for two people. Substitute beef or veal shanks for the oxtail if you like.
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 TBS veg oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 TBS finely chopped ginger (or 2 tsp ground ginger)
• 1 C beef broth
• 3/4 C fat-free coconut milk
• one 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6-8 cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• up to 1 tsp red cayenne pepper, optional – stir in once done cooking to taste

Mix the flour, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin and allspice together in a medium mixing bowl. Roll the oxtails in the spiced flour mixture until they are coated on all sides. Remove and pat off the excess flour and set aside. Add the turmeric to the remaining flour mixture and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large, high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the oxtails on all sides, about four minutes per side, in batches if necessary; don’t crowd the pan then transfer to the slow cooker.

Add the onions and carrots to the skillet, tossing in the oil for about 30 seconds. Add the garlic, ginger and flour mixture, stirring to coat the veggies. Stir in the broth, coconut milk and tomatoes bringing to a boil and stirring often until the sauce is slightly thickened and transfer to the slow cooker.

Tuck the cinnamon stick, cilantro and bay leaves in among the oxtails, crush the cardamom pods with the blunt edge of the knife then toss into the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 4-5 HOURS on HIGH or 8-10 HOURS on LOW until the oxtails are fork-tender.

Sprinkle each serving with additional minced cilantro to serve, over rice, roasted potatoes, couscous or pasta.