Enchiladas Verdes

From Season 9: South-of-the-Border Supper

Why this recipe works: We love the bright taste of enchiladas verdes. But too often the green chili sauce is watery and lacks good green chile flavor. We wanted to re-create the memorable enchiladas verdes found in good Mexican restaurants: moist, tender chicken and fresh, citrusy flavors wrapped in soft corn tortillas and topped with just the right amount of melted cheese.

The chicken was easy; we poached it in chicken broth enhanced with sautéed onion, garlic, and cumin. The green sauce is based on tomatillos and chiles. Jalapeños and serranos are good for adding heat to a dish, but we wanted a more complex herbal flavor and opted for poblanos. To get the characteristic char, which Mexican cooks achieve by roasting on a comal, we tossed the chiles and fresh tomatillos with a little oil and ran them under the broiler. Pulsed in a food processor and thinned with a bit of the broth left from poaching the chicken, the tomatillos and chiles formed a well-seasoned, chunky sauce. To enrich the filling, we liked pepper Jack cheese—and sprinkled more on top of the dish. To make the tortillas pliable and easy to roll, we picked up the same technique from our Chicken Enchiladas with Red Chili Sauce: We sprayed them with vegetable oil spray and baked them for a few minutes. The enchiladas required just a brief stint in the oven to heat through and melt the cheese. Garnished with sour cream, scallions, and radishes, these enchiladas may have the authentic restaurant version beat.

Serves 4-6

You can substitute three 11-ounce cans of tomatillos, drained and rinsed, for the fresh ones in this recipe. Halve large tomatillos (more than 2 inches in diameter) and place them skin-side up for broiling in step 2 to ensure even cooking and charring. If you can’t find poblanos, substitute 4 large jalapeño chiles (with seeds and ribs removed). To increase the spiciness of the sauce, reserve some of the chiles’ ribs and seeds and add them to the food processor in step 3.

Ingredients