Enchiladas Mineras de Madrugada con Pollo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and warming tortillas
• •Heavy pot for poaching chicken
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide skillet for frying tortillas and vegetables
• •Dolores Hidalgo majolica plate or barro platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the chicken

   Put the chicken, onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt, and water in a heavy pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and skim the gray foam during the first ten minutes. Cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender and reaches 165F at the thickest part. Let it rest in the broth for 10 minutes, then shred the meat and reserve at least 2 cups of broth. That broth is the backbone of the chile sauce, not waste.

2. 2

   Parcook the vegetables

   Put the potatoes and carrots in a saucepan with salted water to cover. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes, just until a knife enters but the centers still hold. Drain well and spread them on a towel so the surface dries. Wet vegetables splatter in lard and they brown poorly. The final cooking happens in the skillet.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillos quickly, about 10 to 15 seconds per side, just until they darken a shade and smell fruity. Toast the ancho 20 seconds per side. Toast the unpeeled garlic until spotted, then peel it. Toast the cumin seeds and clove for 20 seconds, only until fragrant. Guanajuato's sauce is guajillo first. The ancho gives body, not a new identity.

   If a chile turns black, throw it out. Burned guajillo makes the whole sauce bitter. No me vengas con atajos.
4. 4

   Soak and blend

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water, not boiling water, and soak 15 minutes. Drain them. Blend the chiles with the toasted garlic, cumin, clove, Mexican oregano, vinegar, 1 1/2 cups reserved chicken broth, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the skins. A good enchilada sauce should cling to the tortilla without dragging pieces of chile skin with it.

5. 5

   Fry the sauce

   Melt 2 tablespoons of lard in a cazuela or saucepan over medium heat. Add the strained guajillo sauce carefully, because it will sputter. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the color turns brick red and a little red fat gathers at the edge. If it thickens too much, loosen it with a splash of chicken broth. La manteca es el sabor. Oil can cook it, but it will not give the same plate.

6. 6

   Fry papas y zanahorias

   Melt 3 tablespoons of lard in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the drained potatoes and carrots in a single layer and fry 8 to 10 minutes, turning them as they brown. You want golden edges, not mashed vegetables. Salt them while they are still glossy from the lard. These papas y zanahorias are not decoration. They are what made the dish filling enough for a miner's morning.

7. 7

   Season the pollo

   Mix the shredded chicken with the chopped white onion and 1/2 cup of the fried guajillo sauce. Taste for salt. The filling should be moist, not wet. Many Guanajuato cooks fill enchiladas mineras with queso fresco and onion and serve chicken on the side. This madrugada version puts the pollo inside because the plate has to feed a working body before sunrise.

8. 8

   Dip and fry tortillas

   Warm the corn tortillas on the comal until pliable. Melt 2 to 3 more tablespoons of lard in a skillet over medium heat. Dip one tortilla quickly through the warm guajillo sauce, lay it in the lard, and fry 15 to 20 seconds per side. Fill with chicken, fold, and move it to a plate. Work one tortilla at a time. Do not drown them in sauce or they will tear before they reach the table.

   Use corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition and they do not belong in Guanajuato enchiladas mineras. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
9. 9

   Plate Guanajuato style

   Serve three enchiladas per plate. Spoon a little more guajillo sauce over them, then scatter the lard-fried potatoes and carrots on top. Finish with crumbled queso ranchero, a little shredded romaine if using, and pickled jalapeños en escabeche at the side. Put the plate on the table with café de olla and bolillos if the morning is long. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy guajillo chiles that bend without cracking and smell like raisins and dry fruit. If they are dusty, brittle, or smell like cardboard, leave them with the vendor. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •The lard should be clean manteca de cerdo from a butcher or Mexican market, not hydrogenated shortening. Shortening is white, dead fat. Manteca smells faintly of pork and makes the tortilla blister at the edges.
• •For a weeknight plate, poach the chicken and make the sauce a day ahead. Do not assemble the enchiladas ahead. Sauced tortillas go soft and then you blame the recipe. The recipe did its work. You waited too long.
• •Queso ranchero is ideal because it is salty and dry enough to crumble over the sauce. Queso fresco works. Yellow cheese does not. That belongs to a different kitchen.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can be poached, shredded, and refrigerated in a little broth up to 2 days ahead.
• •The guajillo sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead. Reheat it gently and loosen with chicken broth before dipping tortillas.
• •The potatoes and carrots can be parcooked the morning of serving, but fry them in lard just before plating so the edges stay browned.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)