Day 291: Enchilada Lasagne

First thing this morning, I have a little info for all the new readers.  My followers have doubled in the last 4 months so welcome to all of you.  I've gotten a few emails from readers wondering what the references to the rings in the recipes are.  I've found what I think is the best way to figure the temperature of the dutch ovens.  It is the Dinwiddie method of temperature control.  Its different than coal counting and uses rings of coals to determine temperature.  I did a post a while back dedicated to this method.  You can get to it with this link.  It should explain everything, but if you still have questions, feel free to shoot me an email and I'll help!

I know in the past I've mentioned my unhealthy obsession of Mexican food.  I don't know what it is about re fried beans, spicy sauce, tortillas and mountains of cheese that I love so much.  This week I "somehow" (wink, wink)  managed to plan a bunch of Mexican dishes into our menu.  I've been craving it so much lately that if I didn't know better I'd think I was pregnant. (Which I'm not, by the way.)  This is a recipe I just made up as I went along.  I've done something similar in the past, so it is loosely based on that.

Enchilada Lasagna
10" dutch oven

8-12 corn tortillas
3 shredded chicken breasts
1 tsp. cumin
dash cayenne
3/4 cup black beans
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese (I don't usually measure cheese, as long as its gooey, its good)

Saute the onions and peppers in olive oil over a full spread of coals.  Add the chicken, cumin, cayenne, black beans, 1 cup of cheese and half of the enchilada sauce.  Heat until it is hot and the cheese is melted.  Remove from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot, layer 2 or 3 tortillas in the bottom.  Top with the chicken mixture and top with part of the filling.  Repeat layers until the tortillas and chicken mixture are gone.  Top with remaining cheese and enchilada sauce.  Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until it is hot and bubbly.  Use 1 ring on top and 1 ring on the bottom.  Serves 4-6.

The Finished Product

The Review

This was good, but there are a few things that I would change about it.  First, I would probably add some corn to it, just because I like corn.  Second, I won't mix the cheese in with the chicken mixture.  I'll just sprinkle it over every layer for added gooeyness.  Finally, the whole dish was a little dry, so next time I'll mix some chicken broth in with the enchilada sauce to make it go farther.  I know that sounds like a lot of changes, but like I said, I was making this up as I went along.  This would be a great camping meal too.  It was a really easy one pot meal.  Grade B.