I work in the middle of nowhere as most people tell me on a daily basis. At anyone given time, there are 4-10 people living in our little park community. And I love to cook, but cooking for one is so difficult so I often invite the neighbors over for meals. Usually I use them as guinea pigs to some meal I am trying. Last night was no different. My husband always suggests I try the recipes on him before inviting the entire housing community over to try the food I'm about to attempt to make. That was definitely the crepe incident at PINN, but they eventually turned out alright....right gang?
Anyway, we have a cookbook called Southwest Slow Cooking we sell in our visitor center. The photos alone make you want to purchase the book.
On a daily basis, given we have 5 visitors, at least 5 people will pick up the book and look through it. I used to tell visitors that if they purchased the book they were required to bring back a meal they prepared out of it for taste testing. Then I picked it up, looked through it, and bought the book. Shortly thereafter, I went out and bought a slow cooker. And I've been testing the recipes in the book. Last night was Flautas De Pollo (photo above) and after posting the above photo on FB, someone wanted the recipe so I'm now sharing it.
Now you are probably wondering how those were made in a slow cooker. Well in reality, only the chicken and vegetables portion was in the slow cooker and then I prepared the flautas and put them in the oven.
You'll need if you can find the following items:
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 white onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3-4 boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon oregano
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
24 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 block ranchero cheese, crumbled (I couldn't find this so I went with pepper jack)
Nonstick cooking spray
Corn oil (I used vegetable oil as that's what I had)
Place the jalapeno, onion, garlic, and chicken in the slow cooker. Stir in the oregano, black pepper, and chili powder. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. (I went with about 5.5 hours).
Turn oven to broil. Spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Remove the chicken and vegetables from the slow cooker. Shred the chicken with a fork and mix in with the cooked vegetables. To each tortilla, add 1/2 tablespoon of the chicken mixture (I didn't measure) and a 1/4 tablespoon of the cheese, and then roll tightly. I interrupt here for a very helpful hint: To keep your tortillas from splitting when rolled is to place 3-4 in an unsealed plastic bag and microwave for 30 seconds. Put a toothpick through the center of each tortilla to hold it closed and place on the baking pan. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and mixture. When finished, brush each tortilla with a little corn oil and place the pan in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove when the tortillas are golden brown on top.
I served them up with some corn bread (I made that in the slow cooker the night before), black beans, sour cream, and salsa. Although mine didn't come out looking like the photo above, I have no doubt they tasted the same.