Green, green, it's green they say...

Craving something spicy, I made a batch of chicken enchiladas. There are certain things I cannot do without, and food with a kick is at the top of that short list. Our local store is now occasionally carrying unexpected produce including tomatillos and jalapenos, and at reasonable prices, too. Here's my usual enchilada assemblage: Roast a pound of tomatillos in their husks with one or two jalapeno peppers under the broiler in the toaster oven, turning them as they get a little brown and crispy on each side. Don't completely char them. An outdoor grill is great for this, if you have it fired up. Alternatively, I have roasted them on a long-handled fork directly over the burner, especially peppers, but put on the exhaust fan to avoid fumes and the resulting smoke alarm racket. I close them in paper lunch sack and let them steam and cool a bit. Briefly saute one chopped yellow onion and three diced cloves of garlic in a little oil in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Crush 1 teaspoon of whole cumin seed in your hand and add to the pot with 1/2 tsp. dried oregano. Peel and chop the tomatillos and peppers. Do not wash them after peeling --- you want that charred taste. If you don't like as much heat, remove the pepper seeds and internal membranes and discard. Add 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth to the pan with the chopped tomatillos and peppers and simmer. After the tomatillos become more translucent, take the pan off the burner and use an immersion blender or place the mixture in a kitchen blender and turn it into sauce. Add 2 T. chopped fresh cilantro and set aside. (By the way, you now have a green salsa that can also grace tortilla chips or tacos.) Cut 3 partially thawed skinless, boneless frozen chicken breasts into smallish chunks, season, and saute briefly until some browning occurs, but don't cook them through. Set aside. Open a can of black beans and drain. Do not rinse. Chop 3 scallions, saving the green tops for later. Grate 1/2 pound pepper jack cheese and 1/2 pound mild cheddar (if you have cotijo-type Mexican farmers cheese, you can crumble it and use it in place of the cheddar.) Sometimes, I use long thin slices of cheese rather than grated. If you have deli sliced cheese, cut it into strips. Open a small can of sliced or chopped olives and drain. Meanwhile, spray a large rectangular baking dish --- I prefer glass or enameled cast iron --- and begin your assembly. I like handmade-style corn tortillas from La Tortilla Factory, which have some wheat in them and are more flexible than machine-made corn tortillas, which tend to break up. Rather than dipping them in the sauce or heating them in a little oil before rolling them up, I heat them briefly in the microwave about 30 seconds, one at a time on a plate. When I lived in San Francisco, I went to a "Mexicatessen" in the Mission District that made tortillas de mano, purchased while warm and pliable. Place a row of chicken pieces in the center of the warmed tortilla. Spoon some sauce over the chicken, add a sprinkle of scallion rounds, a spoon or two of black beans, some grated cheese and a few pieces of olive. Roll and place in the baking dish with seam side down. Pack each rolled tortilla tightly next to its neighbor until the pan is full. (This usually makes enough for one more square pan of enchiladas; they often go straight into the freezer to be enjoyed another day). Spoon sauce over the top to moisten. Sprinkle on copious cheese and a few chopped green scallions. Bake at 375 for about 35-40 minutes, or until it's bubbling and the cheese has browned a little. Let the pan rest five minutes before serving. Variations: Sometimes I use cooked rice in place of beans. One year when frost hit my garden early, I used hard little green tomatoes as a tomatillo substitute. They don't have quite the right acidity, but they worked. Also, a couple of tablespoons of green mole paste can be added to the sauce while blending. If so, add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth, beer or white wine for the right consistency. Leftovers can be frozen or heated in the microwave; they are even better.