We had our annual family Enchilada-off last night. Every year we meet at my parents' house and all of the adults in the extended family make a tray of enchiladas and then we feast on them. Some of you may remember my last entry was the BBQ duck enchiladas that were maybe the best food dish I've ever eaten, not gonna try and be humble at all. So this year there were 8 of us who made entries.
Wanting to change it up this year, I tried my hand at emulating my favorite dish at famous Austin local Tex-Mex joint El Arroyo-- their enchiladas del mar. I've always played it straight and done something with a red/brown chile gravy, but this time I went full-on white creamy sauce, basically a mornay sauce with heavy cream and monterrey jack cheese. For the filling I mixed a blend of lump crabmeat, fresh shrimp, and fresh scallops.
I gotta say it was pretty great. We don't officially vote but I think I probably won it again based on commentary from the masses. But my enchies del mar weren't the only star, my nephew brought a strong challenger with a braised wild ram enchilada with a standard red Tex-Mex chile gravy, my dad made BBQ pulled pork west Texas-style stacked enchiladas with fried egg on top, and my brother made a New Mexican green chile pecan-smoked chicken enchilada that was the spiciest of the bunch and totally delicious!
Definitely a successful evening and I haven't eaten yet today and not sure I ever will again...
