Hatch Chile Week - Day Seven: Hatch Chilaquiles

On the tongue
one can taste
conquistador's sword
piercing hides
of a thousand tribes
where skin bruises
calloused heel of naked foot
loin cloth and brass
Bolivia unfolding
If you listen to the crackle
gunning against lustful chicharras
perched among the mesquite's
still limbs
delicate as a child's embrace
you get fallout
of acidic torrents
Tarahumara talismans
strewn in a heart of seeds
To eat Hatch
is to eat Espanola and Chimayo
monsoon downpour
of silt and filament
is to eat adobe
homo smoke tendrils
of cedar and sassafras
unfurling dusk
and the sun torn faces
of its people;
construction belts cocked waist-side
tired denim & broken boot heels
sunk in red pulp of mud
where dances a white scorpion
And lift the hood of an old pick up
to eat exhaust
bash the knuckles on failing engines
curse carburetors
and canticles of Church mad sufferings
and hail the saints
of the downtrodden
eat them too
in molcajete mash
peyote and holy waters
for broken levies in the ducts
ablutionary floods
wrecked glands in the aftermath
To eat Hatch is to eat Sandia
& Rock City, Old Mesilla
receive sacred Capsaicin
& excavate the bones of Papago
make offerings to Chiltepin
L'itoi Ko'okal
prayers of new beginnings
where birthed a woman
I call mother
desert child with thick convictions
& cancerous misshapings
in the chest cavity
a single cactus flower
flowing outward
from the scar
taste razor mesh
in the holy emerald
corrugated border walls
& boot stomped altars
in shadows of saguaro
strewn pants empty
with blood on the knees
speckled like red strewn ristras
half drunk water bottles
& love letters
left to stew
in ghosts of parched dreams
where discarded sheaths of rattlesnake
slither in the breeze
to eat Hatch is to eat exoskeleton
of trembling coyote
volcanic rubble and fossil of fern
desert clamshells that keep rainbows
that mimic the cosmogenesis unfolding
of nebulas yet to be bom
in ripe plums of midnight
a reptilian abode
deep in the red, nuclear fallout
of spent bombs
smoked honeycombs
& petrified oysters
rusted harmonicas
wailing nursery rhymes
half throated war ballads
electric duende
in the seed-Flamenco!
clutch the stem
and taste yucca
flautist blowing arias
of brilliant infernos
scribing the esophagus
with the abandon
of Lorca's pen
and I devour each verse with
wild consideration
the way an infant swine gobbles at its mother's
fleshy nipple
for that noble nectar
only to be harvested
and flared forth
in the gut of origin.

Canto for a Hatch Chile
Tim Hernandez

After running out of chile facts I stumbled across this, it's a little more literary than I tend to be on my blog but it seemed like a good way to close my Hatch Chile week posts. Today's post is an homage to one of my favorite foods, something that I didn't even know existed until the last few years (really since my parents moved to Mexico), Chilaquiles. What are Chilaquiles you ask,

Chilaquiles are a traditional Mexican dish. Typically, corn tortillas cut in quarters and fried are the basis of the dish. Green or red salsa or mole, is poured over the crispy tortilla triangles, called "totopos." The mixture is simmered until the tortilla starts softening. Eggs (scrambled or fried) and pulled chicken are sometimes added to the mix. The dish is topped with cheese (typically queso fresco) and/or sour cream (crema), and it is served with refried beans. Like many dishes, regional and familiar variation are quite common.

Usually, chilaquiles are eaten at breakfast or brunch. This makes them a popular recipe to use leftover tortillas and salsas.

To start my Chilaquiles, I needed some salsa, I make red salsa fairly often but haven't made green salsa, which seemed much more accommodating to my Hatch theme....so Salsa Verde it is!

Salsa Verde
5 Tomatillos
1/4 Large Sweet Onion
3 Whole Cloves, Peeled Garlic
3 Hatch Chiles (Seeded or not depending on your preference for heat)
1/2 Cup Cilantro
1/2 Tsp Salt
Juice of 2 Limes

1. Broil/Roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and chiles until they are charred on the outside. Turn to ensure even cooking.
2. Remove from oven once they are charred, allow them to cool.
3. Toss all veggies, salt, cilantro and lime into a blender and blend until desired consistency.

Chilequiles
12 Slightly Stale Corn Tortillas
1/2 Tsp Vegetable Oil
1 1/2 - 2 Cups Salsa (Red or Green)
Creama/Sour Cream
1 12oz Can Chicken

Possible Garnish:
Cilantro
Avocado
Chopped Red Onion
Cheese

1. Heat large skillet with oil. Cut tortillas into quarters. Saute tortillas in oil until they are slightly crispy and browning.
2. Remove tortillas from skillet, place chicken and salsa in skillet and heat until warmed (a few minutes at most). Put tortillas back in skillet and mix. Serve topped with creama and whatever garnish you desire.