March 7, 2013 Shopping at Pro’s Ranch Market; Dinner Chicken Enchiladas and Guacamole

March 7, 2013 Shopping at Pro’s Ranch Market; Dinner Chicken Enchiladas and Guacamole

I went to Pro’s Ranch Market this morning at 10:30 a.m. because the Early Bird specials end at 11:00 a.m. and Wednesday and Thursday feature the vegetable and fruit specials.

I did some power shopping:

6 manila mangos for $1.98

8 small avocados for $1.98

10 lbs. Russet potatoes $.99

1 bunch Mexican green onions $.69

2 bunches spinach $1.00

½ lb. original FUD ham at $2.49/lb.

14 oz. of corn chips for $1.49

2 lbs. of sweet lemons $.69/lb.

1 head of green cabbage for $.33/lb.

4 apples at $.69/lb.

12 lbs. oranges at $.25/lb.

1 pint cottage cheese at $2.69/lb.

Pro's is my favorite place to shop for produce in Albuquerque.  I think I was told that their prices for produce are so low because they own their own farms in Mexico.

I invited Susan and Charlie Palmer for dinner and Suzette said she would be home around 5:30 p.m.

We had corn tortillas and mozzarella cheese and a jar of Cervante’s red chili sauce (Costco).

So after a ten mile ride at 5:05 p.m. I started prepping dinner.

I diced 1 ½ onions,

I deboned and cut up the two breasts of the roasted chicken Suzette brought home last night and threw the left over bones and pieces of chicken into a pot of water with a cut up carrot, stalk of celery and ½ onion.

I de-stemmed and washed the two bunches of spinach.

I shredded about two cups of cheese.

When Suzette came home she immediately started helping prep the enchiladas.  We looked at the PPI tomatillo sauce and threw it out because it appeared to have begun to be moldy.

So I opened a 16 ounce jar of Cervantes red chili sauce (Costco) and Suzette used that with some chicken sauce to sauté the tortillas until softened.  She then laid a layer of sautéed tortillas in the bottom of a large pyrex pan and then covered them with cheese and chicken and red chili.  Then she laid another layer of sautéed tortillas over the cheese and chicken layer and pressed down about 1 bunch of spinach and the pint of cottage cheese on that layer.  After adding another layer of sautéed tortillas, she laid the rest of the cheese and poured a combination of the rest of the red chili sauce and enough chicken stock over the layers until the pan was almost filled to the top with liquid.

We then put the enchiladas into a pre-heated 350˚ oven on convection for about 45 to 60 minutes until everything was hot and melted together like a firmly baked Mexican lasagna.

In the past we have used kale leaves or thinly sliced Mexican squash instead of spinach.  This recipe was taught to me by Anita Rodriquez, the now famous enjarradora, in Taos 33 years ago when she was the tenant at the large adobe house with the large Umbrella Room built by Malcolm Brown near Arroyo Seco that was then owned by Amy’s friend Marilyn Maxwell (see Mud Space and Spirit, handmade adobes by Gray, Macrae and McCall, Capra Press, 1976) except her recipe did not use any vegetables, so it was overly fatty and cheesy, so I reduced the amount of cheese by adding more vegetables.  Also, her original recipe started with boiling a chicken, which yielded enough chicken to use on two layers and chicken stock as a by-product.  I have also made deeper casseroles with four or five layers of tortilla with a deeper baking dish and more ingredients.  One of the best ways I ever had the dish was in the early 1970’s at El Farol in Santa Fe where they made baked red chili chicken enchiladas on a single plate.

While the enchiladas were cooking, I made guacamole with 8 avocados, ½ onion diced, the juice of three Mexican limes, a handful of chopped cilantro, 5 cloves of garlic pressed in a garlic press, and about ten drops of Cholulu original hot sauce mashed together.

When Charlie and Susan arrived at 6:45 p.m. I was about one-half way through my prep of the guacamole.  Charlie said he wanted to drink red wine so Suzette went to the basement and brought up a bottle of Ponderosa Jemez Red Wine.  It was light and delicious.  After about 10 or 15 minutes  the guacamole was ready, so I ran to the basement for a few bottles of Dos Equis beer.  In about five more minutes Suzette declared the enchiladas ready, so she cut squares of enchiladas and I put the bowl of guacamole and the corn chips on the table with a pint of Mexican crema.

We had a great dinner and lively conversation.  Charlie’s current wood working projects include a federalist table and another Chinese joined piece of furniture.

I had a White Russian with Cruzan dark Rum for dessert, just to keep the Mexican theme going.

Bon Appétit