The layers of flavors and textures in this easy recipe make my mouth water every time I look at it! The heat of Chimayo and Hatch green chile come in slowly from the back of the mouth and play off of the creamy cheese and sour cream. But the best is tucked inside each bite – bits of caramelized onions! Emma Christensen‘s description from The Kitchn is perfect:
Few things will skyrocket the flavor of your dish quite like caramelized onions. These tender, candy-sweet — yet savory! — morsels turn anything from a burger to a bowl of fresh pasta into something instantly, deliciously gourmet. Accept no imitations: caramelizing onions at home is easy to do. All you need is a few onions, a pat of butter, a pan, and some time.
Before I jump in to the recipe, I want to share this wonderful story, Chimayo’s Chile Culture in Saveur by Deborah Madison about a Chimayo, New Mexico, and the chile that bears its name. Her beautiful description of Chimayo is a lovely word picture of northern New Mexico, the place where I grew up. I love her explanation of the flavor of Chimayo chile and its origins.
Unlike larger, mass-produced chiles grown in other parts of the state—whose conformity makes them perfect in the way that iceberg lettuce is perfect—Chimayo chiles are unpredictable. A single plant might produce some chiles as long as six or seven inches and many more that are shorter; a few might be straightish and skinny, but most will be bent oddly into curlicues. Their irregularity seems to reflect the landscape, with its winding roads and dry-rock badlands juxtaposed with lush valleys and tiny fields.
But looks are only one way to judge this chile. Once it has ripened and been dried and ground, its perfume is remarkable—a particular mix of sweetness, richness, and spiciness—simultaneously grounding and exhilarating. It is piquant without being overbearingly hot, with a bite that offsets the complexity of its distinctive chile flavor.
Chimayo chiles are the same variety grown throughout northern New Mexico—a variety that has been around for so long that it’s known generically as native chile. No one knows for certain how these chiles first came to New Mexico to begin with, but one story is that the colonial entrepreneur Don Juan de Oñate brought them from Mexico in 1598 when he settled the area on behalf of the King of Spain.
Layers of flavor make this a perfect meal for a Dutch oven gathering or a big family get together. To make it even easier and save some time, you can buy cooked chicken. If you do, make sure to add the Chimayo chile seasoning to add a warm spice heat to the dish.
Layers of flavor make this a perfect meal for a Dutch oven gathering or a big family get together. To make it even easier and save some time, you can buy cooked chicken. If you do, make sure to add the Chimayo chile seasoning to add a warm spice heat to the dish.
Place a 12-inch camp Dutch oven over a pile of hot charcoal. Add vegetable oil to cover the bottom of the oven. Add diced onions. Stir to coat the onions in oil, then stir every 5 minutes and make sure to scrape up the yummy stuff sticking to the bottom. You will need to remove or add charcoal underneath the oven to adjust the heat to prevent burning but to keep it cooking so the onion caramelizes. Remove from heat when the onions are dark brown and sweet.
While onions are caramelizing, season the chicken breasts with Chimayo chile, salt, and pepper.
Grill or cook the chicken until the internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Let chicken rest for five minutes then cut into bite size pieces.
Prepare sauce by mixing the green chile sauce with sour cream.
Put together the enchiladas by placing a diced chicken, a spoon of caramelized onions, and shredded cheese in the center of a corn tortilla.
Place the rolled enchilada seam-side down in a 16-inch camp Dutch oven.
Pour sour cream green chile sauce over the rolled enchiladas. Use the back side of a large spoon to distribute the sauce evenly over the enchiladas.
Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese across the top of the enchiladas.
Bake enchiladas at 350 degrees Fahrenheit by making a ring of 14 hot charcoals underneath the oven.....
and 19-20 hot charcoals around the lid of the oven.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until cheese is hot and bubbly and the center of the enchilada is hot. We added extra hot charcoal to the lid for the last five minutes to make the cheese brown up a bit.
Serve with avocados, tomatoes, green onions, and lettuce.
Breakfast isn’t just for the morning anymore, especially when it is as tasty and easy as this recipe!
Huevos Rancheros is a classic Mexican dish served for breakfast that shows off everything wonderful about eggs. Traditionally, it is constructed on top of a crispy tortilla with a layer of salsa and the topped with a perfectly fried egg so that the golden yoke spills out over everything like a perfect sauce to bring all the flavors together. Refinery 29’s recipe is a great example of this classic and simple breakfast meal. I love the made-from-scratch salsa with fresh roasted tomatoes, chiles, and onions. Other versions of the classic huevos rancheros add spicy chorizo, chopped fresh kale, home made hash brown potatoes, and refried beans. The number of adaptations for huevos rancheros are endless!
I want to make this as a casserole in my camp Dutch oven because I don’t want to take the time to construct each serving individually and because Mark Wilkerson, a Dutch oven friend on Facebook, shared his recipe. I found several different versions of huevos rancheros as a casserole that offered plenty of inspiration. Most recipes use a can of red chile enchilada sauce, like this one from The Vintage Mixer, but Alaska From Scratch has a home made recipe that sounds yummy. The Fitchen’s healthier recipe uses a rice instead of tortillas and tops it off with goat cheese. I also learned what the difference is between salsa and ranchero sauce thanks to Jack Fisher‘s post and recipe on the Big Oven.
Here is my version of huevos rancheros that uses 505 Southwestern’s Green Chile Sauce. I chose this sauce because the list of ingredients doesn’t have any modified food starch, hydrolyzed corn protein, corn syrup, and caramel color like canned enchilada sauce. Check out the all natural ingredients in this delicious sauce: Hatch Valley green chile pepper, tomatoes, water, rice flour, onion, salt, garlic powder, lime juice concentrate. I love it and it is perfect for this recipe of huevos rancheros!
Huevos Rancheros Casserole
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Layers of browned pork sausage, refried beans, crunchy tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and Hatch Green Chile sauce are topped by baked eggs, making this an easy and delicious meal that works for breakfast or dinner. Note: We made this recipe in a 12-inch camp Dutch oven, but I think it would be better if made in a larger oven, if you have one. If you use a larger oven, you will have room for more eggs, which are the star of the meal!
Layers of browned pork sausage, refried beans, crunchy tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and Hatch Green Chile sauce are topped by baked eggs, making this an easy and delicious meal that works for breakfast or dinner. Note: We made this recipe in a 12-inch camp Dutch oven, but I think it would be better if made in a larger oven, if you have one. If you use a larger oven, you will have room for more eggs, which are the star of the meal!
Brown sausage in a large camp Dutch oven. Add diced onions and stir until onions are clear. Stir in garlic and let cook for a minute. Remove from the oven and drain off fat and liquid. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together refried beans, drained pinto or black beans, and chipotle.
In a large camp Dutch oven, make a thick layer of tortilla chips. Spoon a third of the seasoned refried beans over the chips, using the back of a large spoon to distribute the beans into an even layer. Sprinkle a third of the shredded cheese on top of the refried beans.
Pour 2/3rds of a jar of green chile sauce on top of the cheese. Repeat two more times to make three layers of chips, refried beans, cheese, and green chile sauce.
Place the lid on the oven and bake at 350 until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, about 20 minutes.
Using the back of a large spoon, make an indentation into the sauce and then add an egg to each spot.
Cover and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until eggs are set and whites are not runny. Sprinkle ground black pepper across eggs.
Serve by scooping out one egg with a hearty portion of the sauce and refried beans. Garnish with avocado, sour cream, green onions, and radishes.
Before I jump in to the recipe, I want to share this wonderful story, Chimayo’s Chile Culture in Saveur by Deborah Madison about a Chimayo, New Mexico, and the chile that bears its name. Her beautiful description of Chimayo is a lovely word picture of northern New Mexico, the place where I grew up. I love her explanation of the flavor of Chimayo chile and its origins.
