Southwestern Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet — The Red Chile Sauce That Crosses State Lines

Holy Week starts next Sunday, which means we're heading to Las Cruces on Friday. Easter is a Medina family production — not as elaborate as Christmas tamales, but substantial. The whole family descends on my parents' house, Gloria makes posole on Good Friday because tradition is tradition, and on Easter Sunday there is a lamb or a pig or a whole brisket depending on what Hector feels like smoking. I have been lobbying for brisket for four years. I will probably win this year because Hector's knees are bothering him and the brisket requires less standing than the pig.

I'm driving down Friday morning, which means leaving Denver at five AM to beat the traffic through Albuquerque. Lisa will be in the passenger seat with coffee and a book. Diego will be in the back with headphones. Sofia will be reading before we hit the city limits. The twins will be fine for exactly forty-five minutes and then Marco will decide that Elena's side of the seat is his side of the seat and the crisis will begin. We've made this drive a dozen times and it goes the same way every time. The car is just a container for everything that makes my life what it is.

Before we leave, I'm making a batch of red chile sauce to bring to my mother. This sounds backwards — bringing chile to Las Cruces — but Gloria has been asking for my red chile sauce ever since I adjusted the recipe. I use dried New Mexico chiles, garlic, cumin, Mexican oregano, and a small amount of dark chocolate, which is not traditional but rounds out the bitterness in a way nobody can identify but everybody notices. Gloria has asked me three times what I do differently. I've told her about the chocolate twice. She doesn't believe me. Some knowledge is easiest to transmit by feeding people directly.

Spring practice is on spring break this week, which gives me two days off from the facility. I cleaned the grill, organized the freezer, and found a bag of green chile I'd forgotten behind the elk steaks. Six bags now. We might make it to September after all.

The kids are excited about Easter — eggs, candy, the specific chaos of a Medina family gathering where everyone is loud and the children outnumber the adults. I'm excited about my mother's cooking and seeing my father and standing on the patio in Las Cruces where the light is different than it is anywhere else in the world. Thirty-eight years old and the thing I look forward to most is going home.

Going home to Las Cruces means going home to red chile, to the smell of it in my mother’s kitchen, to a table where everyone is loud and nothing is subtle and the food does most of the talking. I wanted to cook something this week that carried that feeling before I even got there—something with those dried New Mexico pods I keep hoarding alongside my green chile, something that tasted like the patio light I’ve been missing. This skillet is what came out of it: simple enough for a two-day break from the facility, familiar enough to feel like practice for Easter.

Southwestern Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet with New Mexico Red Chile Sauce

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 4–6

Ingredients

Red Chile Sauce:

• 6 dried New Mexico red chile pods, stems and seeds removed
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 oz dark chocolate (70% cacao or higher), roughly chopped

Skillet:

• 2 tablespoons neutral oil (avocado or vegetable)
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 large sweet potato (about 3/4 lb), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• Crumbled cotija cheese and fresh cilantro, for serving

Instructions

1. Toast and rehydrate the chiles. Heat a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the dried chile pods one at a time, pressing them flat for 20–30 seconds per side until fragrant but not scorched. Transfer to a small saucepan, add 2 cups of the chicken broth and the smashed garlic, and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook 10 minutes until chiles are fully softened.
2. Build the red chile sauce. Transfer the chile-broth mixture to a blender. Add the cumin, Mexican oregano, salt, and dark chocolate. Blend on high until completely smooth, about 60 seconds. Taste and adjust salt. Set aside. The sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.
3. Season and sear the chicken. Pat the chicken pieces dry. Toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, the black pepper, and smoked paprika. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken in a single layer and sear without moving for 3–4 minutes until browned. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate; the chicken does not need to be cooked through at this stage.
4. Soften the sweet potato. In the same pan over medium heat, add the sweet potato cubes and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until lightly browned at the edges and beginning to soften.
5. Build the skillet. Add the onion and poblano to the pan and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add the minced garlic and stir 30 seconds. Return the seared chicken to the pan. Pour in the red chile sauce and remaining 1 cup of chicken broth. Stir to coat everything evenly.
6. Simmer until done. Bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook 12–15 minutes until the sweet potato is fork-tender and the chicken is cooked through (165°F internal temperature). Uncover and stir in the black beans. Cook 2–3 minutes more until the beans are warmed through and the sauce has tightened slightly.
7. Serve. Ladle into wide bowls or over rice. Finish with crumbled cotija and fresh cilantro. The dark chocolate note in the sauce won’t announce itself — it will just make everyone ask what you did differently.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 410 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 8g | Sodium: 620mg