The Ironic Mullet :: Lee Ann Westover

Birthday Enchiladas: Ultimate Soakage

Wondering where the heck I have been? Especially after managing to blog every day I was in Rome? Well, after Rome I fell ill for a few days – caught something nasty on the plane. JUST after getting somewhat well, I ran off to L.A. to stay in -- gasp -- a hotel with no internet access. Sorry and hello again!

Last week I threw a little birthday drinks event for muh man. I let a bunch of friends know we would be hanging out at LIC Bar up the street from 8 pm on. With all that good, cheap beer, I felt it inevitable that either Steve or I would end up with a nasty drunk that night. Happily, we averted that fate. I am not sure if the credit lies with the good sense he had in not accepting every drink offered, or in my own pre-planning. For dinner, I made us a big ol’ pan of chicken enchiladas. A little protein, some tortillas and melty cheese go a long way in the face of unlimited alcohol.

The key to this dish is the sauce. Surfing around on Epicurious.com, I realized that even Bon Appetit Magazine recommends using a pre-made sauce. They don’t even recommend a brand! I, however, will go the distance to share with you my favorite: Duran’s Pharmacy in Albuquerque, NM (ordering info at the bottom of this post). Thankfully, they sell the stuff mail order. Just in case you are asking yourself why you should bother, let me just say that the little baby Jeebus smiles down on those who eat Duran’s sauce, and that it also has the power to grant you three wishes of your choice. Try it! You’ll see it’s true!

I couldn’t just slap some sauce on some chicken and call it a day, though. These are birthday enchiladas. So to begin, I started with a bone-in, skin-on full chicken breast:

FIXINS:
1 set (Rack? Pair?) bone-in, skin-on full chicken breasts
3 cloves garlic, pressed into paste or finely chopped
1 large onion, diced
1 poblano pepper, chopped, seeds and ribs removed
Lil’ bit Oregano
Lil’ bit Cumin
Lil’ bit Cinnamon
Lil’ bit yummy chili powder
Salt, pepper to taste
Grated Costco brand Mexican blend cheese (we high class roun’ here)
Corn Tortillas (at least 12)
Duran’s Pharmacy Red Enchilada Sauce (1 jar will do, 2 jars does bettah)
Lil’ olive oil

<-----Look! There's the sauce!!!! In that jar!! omg.

Step the first: Mix up your spice blend. Peel back the chicken skin and rub the naked chicken boobs with it. Close up the skin again and admire. Whilst admiring, your oven is pre-heating to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Next, heat up your 12” iron skillet to searing temperature (high, baby) and add a little olive oil. Spread open the chicken ribs and place the breast bone-down in the hot oil. Weight the whole deal down with your big ol cast iron grill pan (a foil wrapped Rachel Ray brick will do). After a nice crusty sear, flip the chicken over to sear the top bit, weighting again.

After you have seared the skin to a delicious, golden, shiny brown, put the pan in the oven for about 20 minutes to finish the job.

After the chicken is cooked, *leave the pan dirty* and shred the chicken with a fork into a bowl. Save that precious skin…in fact, mince it and mix it into the shredded stuff. It’s like chicken bacon.

*Into your dirty, chicken-fatty pan* (I put asterisks around the fun parts) dump the onion, garlic and peppers. Over medium heat, patiently cook them till the whole deal is caramelized to yet another shade of golden brown.

While caramelizing, heat up the tortillas to make them pliable. I have a gas range, so I just plop them down over a medium heat – right on the burner – for 6 or 7 seconds a side.

Mix the caramelized onion mixture into the shred. Scrape your pan out completely.

NOW, into each tortilla, place a nice big spoonful or two of the chicken mix and place into the pan. Cram as many as you can into the skillet. I think I managed 12.

Pour the precious elixir of baby Jeebus enchilada sauce down over the whole thing. The more sauce the bettah. Pile on some cheese and pop it into the 350 degree oven for 30 or 35 minutes – til the thing is bubbling nicely.

Serve it up, eat it, then email me to tell me how I changed your life.

Should serve 4 or 5, but really only serves two…if you are doing your job.

PS:
This is a one pot dish! Love me more?

PPS:
Order the sauce by phone from Duran's: 505-247-4141

TRAVEL FOODING: Duran's Central Pharmacy, Albuquerque

I finally DRAGGED my S.A.D.* butt to the gym this morning after a good two months of pretending not to have a membership. After some pitiful sweating at the lowest resistance levels, I returned home for a healthy protein-rich lunch of muh famous turkey chili. In said chili I put spices we bought at the Tesuque Flea Market near Santa Fe - 2 kinds of smoky chilies + pungent cumin. All that is well and good, but I really screwed myself by indulging in a walk down memory lane while I waited for the microwave. I remembered that right before we went to Santa Fe, we had flown into Albuquerque, NM. After landing, we headed over to Old Town for lunch.

In my usual fashion, I found a coffee shop where two zaftig ladies were laughing at a table out front.  (The Old Broads' Coffee Shop,  206 1/2 San Filipe #5 Patio Market, Abq, NM 505-459-2779)I felt in my bones that they would be able to tell me about someplace delicious, someplace close, and someplace not completely touristy. Hoo boy, did they exceed expectations! Just a few short blocks from the main plaza, by the Wendy's, sits an unassuming adobe building. As if in disguise, it's called Duran's Central Pharmacy. I know they actually fill prescriptions there, but I believe that that is not the reason most people go inside. Now I know. Many thanks to the ladies!

Duran's Central Pharmacy houses all the usual trappings of a 1960's era pharmacy - Brill Cream, Vitalis, cotton balls, reading glasses. Like Walgreens before them, it also houses a lunch counter. Instead of the usual diner fare you'd see at a lunch counter in the rest of the US, Duran's is the home of the most wonderful chicken enchilada's in the whole universe. I mean that.

Most joints in NM specialize in green chili sauce, but through a series of scientific experiments, my man and I have decided that Duran's red sauce is where it's at. Basically we peer around at what everyone else is eating, and say "Gimmie dat."

The enchiladas arrive bathed in so much sauce, that at first I wasn't sure if they were even in there. If you make it to Duran's, I beg you to please order a side of the homemade flour tortillas. Yes, go ahead and get them with butter. We aren't here for our health. The combo of the savory and not-too-spicy-for-gringas chili concoction is pure heaven. It's gentle on the senses, and not so salty that you cant marvel at the delicate layers of flavor that comes from dried chilis, water and fat.

So yes, I messed myself up this morning. I have a perfectly delicious turkey chili to eat, but all I can do is pine over a dish I can't have. Not today, anyway. Duran's sells the sauce via mail order! Thank you baby Jeebus.

Duran's Central Pharmacy
1815 Central Ave. NW
505-247-4141

*Seasonal Affective Disorder. Great excuse to nap, huh?