Achiote-Citrus Braise · Red Sauce From Scratch · ~75 min · Dutch Oven + Oven + Flat-Top
Tap any timer to start it · They run in the bottom-right
La Compra · The Shopping
What You Need.
One pot of chicken feeds two very different plates. The thighs braise in orange, lime, and achiote until they shred with a fork, and then that same chicken becomes the filling for a pan of red enchiladas and the topping for a charred-cabbage enchilada bowl. The red sauce is made from scratch in fifteen minutes and it's the difference between enchiladas and canned enchiladas. Start the chicken first. The sauce, the cabbage, and the rolling all happen while it braises.
El Pollo · The Braise
2.5 lbboneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cuporange juice, fresh
1/4 cuplime juice
2 tbspachiote paste
1 cupchicken broth
1onion, diced
4 clovesgarlic, minced
1 tsp eachcumin, Mexican oregano, smoked paprika
1 tspkosher salt
1 tbspavocado oil
La Salsa Roja · Red Sauce
3 tbspavocado oil
3 tbspflour
3 tbspchili powder, ancho if you find it
1 tspcumin
1/2 tsp eachgarlic powder, Mexican oregano
2 tbsptomato paste
2.5 cupschicken broth
1 tspapple cider vinegar
to tastesalt
Las Enchiladas · Chris
12corn tortillas
3 cupsMonterey Jack, shredded
1/4 cupavocado oil, for softening
19x13 baking dish
El Bowl · Lauren
1/2 headgreen cabbage, sliced thin
1 tbspavocado oil
1/2 cupMonterey Jack, from the same bag
La Mesa · The Table
1/2 cupcrema or sour cream
2avocados, sliced
1/2red onion, quick-pickled
handfulcotija, crumbled
1 bunchcilantro
2limes, wedged
If You're Not Making the Sauce
Two 10-ounce cans of red enchilada sauce cover both plates. It works. The scratch version is fifteen minutes and tastes like a restaurant made it, so it's worth the roux, but nobody will send the enchiladas back either way.
Where We Shop · Central Market, Fort Worth
One lap of the store.
Every ingredient on this page came from the Central Market on Hulen. Here's where to find the ones that aren't obvious, roughly in the order you'd walk it. Layouts shift a little store to store, so when in doubt, ask. The staff there know their aisles cold.
Produce
Oranges, limes, cabbage, avocados, cilantro, onion. Buy the limes by the bag. Between the braise, the pickled onion, and the table, you'll go through six or seven.
Meat Counter
Boneless skinless thighs. Ask for two and a half pounds. Thighs braise and shred; breasts go stringy. This is not the place to swap.
Hispanic Foods Aisle
Achiote paste comes as a small red brick, usually near the mole and the dried chiles. Chili powder and Mexican oregano are here too, and often better than the versions in the main spice aisle. Canned enchilada sauce lives on this aisle if you're skipping the scratch version.
Tortillas
Corn tortillas are near the bakery in most locations. Check for any made fresh in-house that day, they soften and roll without cracking far better than the shelf-stable ones.
Cheese Counter & Dairy
Cotija and queso fresco at the counter or in the Hispanic dairy case. Crema is next to the sour cream. Monterey Jack is anywhere, but a block you grate yourself melts smoother than the pre-shredded bag.
Pantry
Chicken broth, tomato paste, flour, cider vinegar. Standard aisles. If you're out of cumin or smoked paprika, the bulk spice section sells them by weight and it's cheaper than a jar.
01
Primero · Start This First
El Pollo en Achiote
Braise it until it shreds itself.
The Braise · Dutch Oven
Sear
Aromatics
Simmer
Back in the pot
~45 minmostly unattended
This is pollo asado flavor done as a braise. Orange, lime, and achiote go into the pot instead of onto a grill, the thighs cook until they fall apart, and the whole thing turns a deep brick red. It's the filling for the enchiladas and the topping for the bowl, so make the full amount even if it looks like a lot.
A · Sear the Thighs
Pat the thighs dry, salt them. Oil the Dutch oven over medium-high and brown them in two batches, about 3 minutes a side. They won't be cooked through and shouldn't be. Set them on a plate.
B · Onion, Garlic, Achiote
Heat to medium. Onion into the chicken fat with a pinch of salt, 3 minutes until soft, then the garlic, cumin, oregano, and smoked paprika for one minute. Crumble the achiote paste in and mash it into the onions with the back of your spoon until it dissolves into a red paste. Scrape up the browned bits.
C · Citrus, Broth, Lid
Pour in the orange juice, lime juice, and broth, stir, and return the chicken with any juice from the plate. It should come about halfway up the thighs. Bring to a simmer, lid on, 30 minutes at a bare bubble.
D · Shred and Return
Thighs onto a board, shred with two forks, and put every bit of it back in the pot for 5 minutes uncovered. The chicken drinks the braising liquid back up and turns glossy and red. Shredded chicken left out of its liquid is dry in minutes.
♪ Press playHasta la Raíz· Natalia Lafourcade
Calavera
The sweet ones are for the living. The chile is for us.
02
Segundo · While the Chicken Braises
La Salsa Roja
Red sauce from scratch, fifteen minutes.
The Sauce · Saucepan
Roux
Bloom spices
Simmer
Makes ~3 cupsenough for both plates
Real red enchilada sauce is a chili-powder roux thinned with broth. That's the whole secret. Toasting the chili powder in fat for a minute is what makes it taste deep instead of dusty.
A · The Roux
Oil into a saucepan over medium, then the flour. Whisk 2 minutes until it smells nutty and goes a shade darker. Don't let it brown hard.
B · Bloom the Chili
Chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and oregano into the roux. Stir constantly for one minute. It will look like a thick red paste and smell like a spice shop. Then the tomato paste, stirred in for thirty seconds more.
C · Broth and Simmer
Pour the broth in slowly, whisking, so it stays smooth. Bring to a simmer and let it go 10 minutes, whisking now and then, until it coats a spoon. Finish with the vinegar and salt to taste. It should be a little sharper than you think, the cheese and chicken will mellow it.
Ancho Makes It Better
Regular chili powder works. Ancho chili powder from the Hispanic aisle works better, it's darker, fruitier, and less harsh. If you find it, use it in place of the regular kind, same amount.
♪ Cook toSabor a Mí· Trío Los Panchos
03
Tercero · Chris
Las Enchiladas
Soften, fill, roll, bake.
Enchiladas · Oven 375°F
Soften tortillas
Roll 12about 5 minutes
Bake
Rest 5before you cut in
Corn tortillas crack when you roll them cold. Every enchilada recipe that skips softening them ends up with a pan of torn tortillas. Twenty seconds in hot oil, then a dip in the sauce, and they roll like fabric.
A · Soften and Dip
A thin layer of oil in a skillet over medium-high. One tortilla at a time, 10 seconds a side, just until pliable and lightly blistered, not crisp. Onto paper towels. Then drag each one through a shallow dish of the red sauce so both faces are coated.
B · Fill and Roll
Ladle a thin layer of sauce into the 9x13 so nothing sticks. Down the center of each sauced tortilla: a generous line of shredded chicken and a pinch of jack. Roll snug, seam down, and pack them tight in the dish. Twelve should fit in two rows.
C · Sauce, Cheese, Bake
Pour the remaining sauce over the top, edge to edge, then the rest of the jack. Uncovered at 375°F for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browning at the edges and the sauce is bubbling. Rest 5 minutes or they fall apart on the spatula.
♪ Cook toCielito Lindo· Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
04
Cuarto · Lauren
El Bowl de Col Asada
Charred cabbage, everything on top.
The Bowl · Flat-Top or Skillet
Cabbage, untouched
Cabbage, tossing
Melt
~8 minwhile the enchiladas bake
Raw cabbage under hot sauce reads like slaw. Charred cabbage is a different thing entirely: sweet, tender, smoky at the edges, and it soaks up the red sauce the way a tortilla would. This is the enchilada without the wrapper, and it's not a consolation prize.
A · Char It Hard
Oil a hot zone on the Blackstone, or a large skillet on high inside. Sliced cabbage in an even layer, and hands off for a full minute until the edges go dark brown.
B · Toss to Tender
Toss, spread, wait, toss. Four to five minutes until it's wilted and sweet with charred bits throughout, still a little bite in the thick pieces. Pinch of salt. Push it into a pile the size of a bowl.
C · Build It on the Heat
A big pile of shredded chicken over the cabbage, a generous ladle of red sauce over that, then the jack. Dome it (or lid the skillet) about 90 seconds until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is bubbling into the cabbage. Slide the whole thing into a bowl.
Then Dress It Like the Enchiladas
Crema, avocado, pickled onion, cotija, cilantro, lime. Same toppings as Chris's plate, so it eats like the same dinner. Carbs land around 12 grams, most of it the sauce and the avocado.
♪ Cook toQue Nadie Sepa Mi Sufrir· La Sonora Dinamita
Dos Platos · Two Plates
Same pot, same sauce, same cheese.
Everything that matters comes out of the same three pots. The only difference is whether it's rolled in a tortilla or piled on cabbage.
Chris
Las Enchiladas
Three enchiladas from the pan, sauce and cheese over
Crema, avocado, pickled onion
Cotija and cilantro on top
Lime wedge on the rim
Lauren
El Bowl · No Tortillas
Charred cabbage base, chicken, red sauce, melted jack
Crema, avocado, pickled onion
Cotija and cilantro on top
Lime wedge on the rim
Build the Bowl Last
The enchiladas hold in the oven and rest better than the bowl holds anywhere. Bake the pan, and while it rests those five minutes, char the cabbage and build the bowl so both plates land hot at the same time.
La Música · Para la Mesa
Loud enough for the neighbors.
01Hasta la RaízNatalia Lafourcade
02Sabor a MíTrío Los Panchos
03Cielito LindoMariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán
04Que Nadie Sepa Mi SufrirLa Sonora Dinamita
05La Cumbia del MoleLila Downs
The last Muertos page was for the ones who are gone. This one's for the ones at the table. Lafourcade to start the braise, Los Panchos while the sauce thickens, mariachi as the pan goes in the oven, and Lila Downs singing about mole while everybody eats. Turn it up when the cumbia starts.
Para Beber
What to drink.
While It Braises
Negra Modelo
A dark Mexican lager, malty and smooth with almost no bitterness, which is what you want next to achiote and red chile. It tastes like the season without being heavy. Cold, straight from the bottle, and the second one's for the oven timer.
At the Table
Cantarito
The Jalisco highball. Tequila, three citruses, and grapefruit soda over ice in a salt-rimmed clay cup if you have one, a tall glass if you don't. Bright, salty, and it cuts red sauce and cheese better than a margarita does.
2 ozblanco tequila
1 ozorange juice
1/2 ozlime juice
1/2 ozgrapefruit juice
topSquirt or Jarritos toronja
rimsalt, or Tajin
For the Tracker
Macros.
Chris · Enchiladas
Three enchiladas with toppings · 1 of 4
Cal
~820
Protein
58g
Carbs
52g
Fat
42g
Lauren · The Bowl
Cabbage, chicken, sauce, cheese, toppings
Cal
~560
Protein
54g
Carbs
12g
Fat
32g
The bowl's 12 grams are mostly the sauce, the avocado, and the cabbage itself. The enchiladas carry the tortillas and the extra cheese. Both plates use the same chicken, which is lean, so the fat is mostly cheese, crema, and avocado on either side. Ballpark, as always.
