Sunshine and Olly

by Jonathan Blaustein

Back in the day, The Apple Tree restaurant was a Taos institution. 

It lasted forever, but was eventually supplanted by Lambert’s, in the same space on Bent St.

No matter.

Longtime Taoseños remember their classic Mango Chicken Enchiladas, with green chile sauce, and some have tried to replicate it.

(Cid’s Market, another Taos institution, makes their own far inferior version.)

Thankfully, I gave a try on Monday, and it worked out perfectly. 

Enchiladas, like some of the other casserole-style recipes I’ve shared, are things people more often eat at restaurants. 

(Multi-step processes tend to weed people out, because they get intimidated.)

Today, I’d like to inspire you to try.

The key is to have a plan, so it doesn’t create wasted effort.






To make the chicken, I used my Instant Pot for pressure cooking. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can just braise.

I put 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the pot. Add about 3/4 cup of water, 1/4 cup of orange juice, then NM red chile powder, some Tapatio, salt, pepper, fresh squeezed lime juice, and a clove of garlic.

I pressure cooked it for 50 minutes, and then let it slow cook for another half hour or so.

When it’s done, shred the meat with a fork and spoon, and season it to taste. 







For the green chile sauce, you need a pile of roasted NM green chile, which is in season this time of year.

(If you can’t access this, I’d recommend roasting poblanos, which are more readily available.)

Peel and seed the chile, then roughly chop it up.

Dice some garlic cloves, and heat up your skillet.

Sauté the diced garlic in some oil or butter, and when it’s lightly golden, add 1/4 cup of salted butter, and about 1 cup of flour to the pan to make a roux.

(This becomes the thickening agent to the chile sauce, just as it could for a gumbo.)

When the roux has a nice golden color, add the chile to the pan, and season it with salt and pepper.

Fill the pan with 2-3 cups of water, squeeze a full lime, and then splash some orange juice.

Let it cook for about 10 minutes, then blend with an immersion blender until mostly smooth, but with some texture left.

Season with a touch of sugar and/or honey to balance the heat, more lime if necessary, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. 

You should be good to go.






The next phase requires precooking the corn tortillas, to give them flavor and proper pliability. 

(For this, I use my crepe skillet, but any skillet will do.)

Just heat the pan, spray or pour some oil each time, and make sure to add salt.

I like to cover the pan, which adds moist steam heat too, before finishing it w/o the lid.

Cover the tortillas as they stack on a plate when you’re done.

Much like the flatbread, this goes fast if you do it assembly-line style. 






Because of my elbow, I asked Jessie to grate some cheese for me, which means technically I had a sous chef.

I used cheddar and Monterey jack, plus some pre-shredded Colby Jack as well.

I mention cheese here, because grating the cheese (and then rolling the enchiladas) is all that’s left.

For the mango, I used Bonne Maman mango jam, which tracks with the flavoring of my original inspiration. 

(Fresh mango would be great too, but might adjust the moisture content.)






To assemble the enchiladas, (before baking,) coat the bottom of your casserole pan with a layer of chile sauce. 

Then, it’s back to the assembly line.

Fill one tortilla with chicken and a scoop of mango jam, roll it, and place it in the pan.

I ended up with 16 rolls.

Then cover with chile sauce, a thick layer of cheese, and the last bit of reserved chile. 

(I also spooned some of the braising liquid over the top, but that’s optional.)

Bake at 350 for about an hour, and you are good to go.

It was so tasty, and we had half left over for tonight’s dinner.

Happy Cooking!