Stacked Dutch ovens make meals for a crowd or cooks two foods at one time.
Jim Perry is an aficionado of Dutch oven cooking. With two cast iron ovens and 30 hot charcoal briquettes, he can cook camping meals that outshine those produced in the best kitchen. He agreed to share his recipe for seafood enchiladas. He makes a super hot offering for those who, like himself, adore spicy foods. A mild version allows others to enjoy the dish without the adrenalin rush.
As is often the case with Mexican food, this recipe uses cilantro, chili powder and cumin. For anyone unfamiliar with cumin, it’s the seed of a member of the parsley family and popular in Indian, Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisines.
Jim likes to top his enchiladas with Wee Willy’s Salsa, available in hot and medium. Jim likes the hot.
Dutch Oven Enchiladas
2 Pounds fresh, small shrimp, peeled, deveined, steamed
3 Cans lump crabmeat, drained
8 oz Cream cheese, cut into 1”x 2” rectangles
6 Green onions, chopped to ¾” pieces
1 Medium sized yellow onion, diced
1 Cup chopped cilantro
2 Cups sliced mushrooms
1 Medium Jalapeño and 1 medium Serrano pepper, diced and kept separate
Garlic salt
Cumin
Chili powder
La Victoria or El Paso Enchilada sauce, Hot version
1 Can black beans
Shredded cheese, 2 cups each: Nacho version and Chipotle Pepper version
One dozen large (8”) corn tortillas
Sour cream
Fresh garden lettuce
Salsa
Preparation at home:
Chop, slice and dice as necessary.
Mix crab, shrimp, and cream cheese; divide in half.
Sauté yellow onion over medium heat until almost transparent.
Add green onions and mushrooms. Cook over medium to low heat until mushrooms begin to lose their firmness.
Divide onion-mushroom mixture into two equal portions. Add half of the shrimp, crab, cream cheese mixture to each.
For the mild version: Add the Jalapeno pepper, ½ teaspoon cumin and 1 teaspoon chili powder.
For the hot version: Add the Serrano pepper, 1 ½ teaspoons cumin and 2 teaspoons chili powder.
In separate pans, cook over medium to low heat until cream cheese melts.
Preparations: plan to bring …
• Two 8” Dutch ovens Charcoal briquettes (Kingsford seems best choice)
• Charcoal chimney starter
• Dutch oven lid lifter or a welding glove
• Newspaper
• Pie pan for soaking tortillas
In the field:
Light briquettes in the chimney starter; plan on at least 30 briquettes
When briquettes are hot: Add 1/8 cup water and the tortillas to a Dutch oven; use 5 briquettes below & 5 above for five minutes to steam tortillas to reduce breakage.
Pour one can Enchilada sauce into the pie pan.
Lay in a tortilla, coating both sides.
Add about ½-3/4 cup shrimp crab mixture, ¼ cup black beans and cilantro to each one (use approximately ½ tablespoon cilantro for the mild version, 3 tablespoons for the hot version)
Roll enchilada and lay in the bottom of the Dutch oven.
Repeat-adding 6 enchiladas to each Dutch oven. Hot version in one; mild in the other.
When complete, distribute any remaining enchilada sauce between two Dutch ovens.
Cover with about 1 ½ cups shredded cheese-Nacho variety for mild and Chipotle for hot version
Bake with Dutch ovens stacked one on top of the other; 5 briquettes under the bottom one, 11 on top of the lid of each Dutch oven. Rotate each Dutch oven 45 degrees, and each top 45 degrees every 15 minutes to even out heat. Cook about 30 minutes or until enchilada sauce is boiling and cheese has melted.
To serve:
Place fresh lettuce leaf on plate.
Serve Enchiladas on top of lettuce.
Top with sour cream and salsa.
Note: Jim recommends this source for Dutch ovens and Dutch oven lid lifters. http://www.ahappycamper.com/products/dutch_ovens/lodge_camp/index.html
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