Food You Can Eat: New Mexican Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

The retrospective of FYCE offerings continues. This post is from September, 2020:

First things first: this is not Mexican food (no matter what the tag says) and it damned sure isn’t Tex-Mex. New Mexican food is its own distinct cuisine, set apart primarily by its use of the New Mexican Green and Red Chiles, which themselves are primarily grown in the Hatch River Valley in Southern New Mexico. These chiles aren’t super hot, but they’re not particularly mild either. What they do have is a flavor you will not find anywhere else. In fact, of all the variations of Southwestern cooking, I find New Mexican food the most flavorful.

Also, a caveat before we get started: because New Mexico Green Chiles aren’t something one can easily find outside of New Mexico, I’m going to cheat and recommend using a prepared sauce. I’ve tried a wide variety of them over the years and recommend Garcia’s Kitchen. You can buy jars online and have them shipped to you.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Chicken breasts and thighs

Onions

Garlic

Cheddar and/or Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

Corn Tortillas

Whole Eggs

Start by poaching the chicken in a large pot with just enough water to cover the meat. Heat over a medium burner for about an hour and then turn down to medium-low for another couple of hours. The chicken should be tender, but not falling apart. Pull the chicken out of the pot to let it cool a little bit. You’ll also need some of the stock for the recipe, and you’ll still have plenty of leftover stock to freeze for soups or whatever you please down the road.

While your chicken is cooling, dice your onions and garlic. In a clean pot over a medium burner, heat up some olive oil (not too hot–you don’t want it to smoke) and then throw in the onions and garlic to saute for a few minutes until tender. While the onions and garlic are cooking, coarsely chop your chicken, and then throw into the pot with the onions and garlic. Add some chicken stock to keep everything moist. Feel free to salt and pepper to taste.

At this point, you’ll want to start heating up your green chile sauce, either over the stove or in a microwave, but I recommend the stove because microwaving tends to make the chile explode all over.

In a small saute pan on medium heat, pour in just enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Heat for at least four minutes, but again take care that the oil doesn’t smoke. To test when the oil is ready, take a very small piece of corn tortilla (I mean really small–less than a 1/4 inch) and toss it in the pan to see if the oil bubbles. Once the oil is ready place one corn tortilla in the oil, let it sit for a few seconds and then use a pair of tongs to turn the tortilla over for a few more seconds. (If you let it cook too long, it will get hard.) Then remove the tortilla carefully but quickly. These tortillas will be very soft and prone to tearing, so it may take some practice to get the technique down. I typically use tongs with ends that are coated in plastic because I’ve found bare metal tends to tear the tortillas very easily. While gently shaking the saute pan with one hand, I will slide one side of the tongs under the tortilla while also shaking the tongs from side to side to get them under the tortilla. Grabbing it by the edge is almost guaranteed to rip it. Place the tortilla on a paper towel to dry off. Repeat the process until you’ve got two cooked tortillas for every plate you plan to serve.

Now, begin to assemble your enchiladas. These are stacked, not rolled because rolled enchiladas are bullshit. Place one tortilla on a plate and place some of your chicken mixture on it and top it with cheese.

Place your second tortilla on top, smother with your heated green chile sauce and some more cheese.

In the saute pan where you cooked your tortillas, fry your egg(s) so they can absorb some of the flavor of the tortillas. I recommend over easy. Then place an egg on top of each enchilada and garnish with chopped lettuce or microgreens, diced tomatoes, and a dollop of sour cream. Serve with refried beans (traditional, not vegetarian–what the hell is wrong with you?) and either Spanish rice or corn.

Pro tip: When cooking your refried beans, the easiest way to get them out of the can (What, you thought I was going to make you cook your own refried beans? That shit takes forever.) is to take the top lid all the way off, then turn the can upside down over the pot and with the heel of a chef’s knife (NOT the tip!), punch a hole into the bottom of the can. The beans should foop right out of the can in one whole glob–no futile scraping of the can necessary.

Enjoy!