Pollo de Ancho

Now comes the versatile chicken dish. Easy enough for weekday meetings, although allow thirty minutes for prep and another hour plus for cooking.

Start by chopping an onion. Peel and seed three ancho chilies and rehydrate in hot water while chopping. Peel two garlic cloves, and chop up some fresh oregano. Also chop up cilantro for garnish later. Once the anchos have rehydrated (takes about twenty minutes), chop them into strips.

At this point, the oven should be preheated to 350 degrees.

Next, brown the chicken in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. I use eight bone-in thighs, remove the skin, and brown them in my dutch oven. Once they have appropriately browned I add the onion and oregano and the ancho chilies and let the flavors meld over medium high heat. (I do find that I have to keep reducing the heat during this process, lest I sizzle the onions. The onions taste better if their flavor dissolves into the oil. After a few minutes, I press the garlic (unless I've gotten a wild hair and have chopped it) and cook for one minute. Then I add one cup of dry white wine and one cup of chicken stock and bring to a boil. (the liquid should leave part of the chicken exposed). Then it goes into the oven for thirty minutes to an hour.

Which is a good time to start the rice and black beans. Leftovers make great tacos or quesadillas.

The recipe is adapted from the Elote Cafe Cookbook by Jeff Smedstad. His Sedona-area restaurant was a true experience when I visited Sedona this past December. The locals line up an hour before the restaurant opens to get a table. Unsuspecting visitors like myself encounter the hour and a half wait when we arrive at seven thirty. But the blood orange margaritas were flowing and the popcorn with its cinnamon notes was outstanding. The time on the patio flew by, and we settled in at the bar for dinner at about 9:00. The chef's business partner was tending bar, and he led us through the menu, including the excellent tequila list. By the end of the night, the chef was behind the bar pouring tequila to share and telling us of his early experiences in the business. I quite like his cookbook, even when compared with Bayless's peerless "Authentic Mexican." Some of the dishes are overblown and overdone, like the lamb shank recipe that involves braising in an orange juice-based sauce. But the ancho chicken, at least, is an easy and tasty dish.