Like All Good New Mexico Food, These Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada casserole is comfort food. This recipe is based on the method I inherited from my grandmother, the best cook I've ever known and a green chile connoisseur. It isn't fancy food. She raised four kids on a teacher's salary.

Chile Legacy in the Southwest

People in the southwest have been growing chiles (Capsicum annuum) for at least four centuries. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, pueblo indians grew chile with seed procurred from Mexican tribes via trade. Each pueblo continues to cultivate their own peppers. Each has a distinct pungency, sweetness, taste, and heat. For example, the Zia Pueblo pepper has a bitter-sweet flavor when it matures. Chimayo's red chile is legendary, though smaller than other red chile varieties.

New Mexico chile (or New Mexican chile) is a group of cultivars developed by pioneer horticulturist Fabián Garcia at New Mexico State University in 1894, then known as the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Dr. Garcia's selective breeding began with 14 lineages of 'Pasilla', 'Colorado', and 'Negro' cultivars, from across New Mexico and Southern Colorado's old Hispano and Puebloan communities. His initial variety became quite popular in California and became known as the Anaheim pepper due to the popularity of the crop in that region. However, the seed was developed in New Mexico. Anaheim chile was the predecessor of many strains developed based on Garcia's research; some hotter, some more disease tolerant or drought tolerant, some bigger.

Hatch Chile

For New Mexicans chile is synonymous with good food, home and family, which is appropriate, because that ultimately characterizes Hatch as a community. It's a small town, with long-standing agricultural roots, where neighbors know one another and farming is a way of life. Chile isn't the only thing they grow in Hatch, but it is what has put the town on the map. The sandy loam soil along the banks of the Rio Grande, and New Mexico's hot, arid climate make for a fiery, flavorful fruit.

Hatch green chile is recognized by foodies and culinary aficionados around the world. Often the term is used as if it is a variety of chile. That isn't accurate. The farmers around Hatch grow numerous varieties of chile, varying in potency from mildly spicy to wildly hot. They take pride in the piquancy of their peppers, declaring themselves the "chile capital of the world."

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Servings: 6 – 8, depending on portion size

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of shredded chicken, roasted for flavor. I often buy a roasted chicken. It takes less than half to make the enchiladas, leaving plenty of leftover chicken to make green chile chicken soup.
• 12 corn tortillas, white or yellow
• 1 teaspoon of vegetable or olive oil for frying
• 1 cup roasted and peeled green chile, chopped (available online from Hatch Chile Store)
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (you can make your own sauce if you have time to go gourmet)
• 1 can of chicken broth
• 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 12 slices of cheese, sliced long (to roll into each enchilada). Feel free to vary cheese based on personal preference.
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Heat the oil in a same skillet until hot. Test with a drop of water. Should sizzle. Briefly fry each corn tortilla to make them more pliable, 3-4 seconds per side. Use paper towels of clean towels to drain extra oil.
3. Mix the soup, using chicken broth instead of water or milk. If you make your own sauce, skip this step. Add 3/4 of the chopped green onion to the sauce. The rest will be used to garnish.
4. Assemble. Corn tortilla, shredded chicken, block of cheese, green chile, and a spoonful of the sauce, roll and repeat until the baking dish is full of rolled enchiladas.
5. Pour remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with the shredded cheese.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden and the smell of the chile is wafting through your kitchen. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, and serve.

Please leave your recipe modifications, or any questions that you may have, in the comments.

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Like All Good New Mexico Food, These Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Source: https://newmexiconomad.com/green-chile-chicken-enchilada/

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