Living and Loving in Texas: Green Chili Burritoes

My Daddy made the best green chili burritoes and his were made with pork. While I was living in Tennessee for a few years, I would get so hungry for his green chili burritoes. One homesick day, my friend, JB, gave me habenaro peppers out of his garden. I had never cooked with them, but I thought they would make delicious green chili burritoes. So in the kitchen I went, chopping, dicing, stiring and cooking. I had all of my ingredients browned and poured in my liquid to simmer for a few minutes. Just at the right moment, I popped that habenaro pepper open, scraped the seeds out, and tossed the pepper in my tasty pot. All of the sudden, I was on fire! I was literally in tears and wanted to cut my hand off...SERIOUSLY! I could not image what had happened. With a closer inspection of my poor pain-ridden hand, I found the tiniest little habenaro pepper seed lodged under my thumbnail. I quickly dug it out and ran to the faucet, then dunked my hand in a glass of ice water while looking for any other solution I could think of to make the intense pain stop! Oh the misery! JB wandered up to the house just in time when my scrumptious green chili mix was ready to dive into and I just happened to be pulling off the last homemade tortilla from the griddle. He bellied up to the table and I placed my offering in front of him. He took a big ol' bite, looked at me in horror and threw the burrito down in the plate, reaching for water and spouting off a stream of four letter words. It seems he didn't get the fact that they were screaming hot from cooking, but it also contained his firey peppers. And as he was from Tennessee he wasn't too up on the fine art of Mexican cooking, spicey seasonings and our love of the wild and hot side of things. I think I brought tears to the poor man's eyes. In the end, after his heart settled back in his chest and mine quit throbbing in my thumb, those burritoes were delicious, brought me memories of home, and filled our tummies.

This is a quick version of Dad's green chili burritoes and these are made with chicken because I no longer eat pork. I hope you will give these a try. I know you will love them and will make them again and again.

Ingredients:
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
1 can roasted diced green chilis
2 new potatoes peeled and diced (or regular potatoes)
1 tsp (or more to taste) sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tbsp ground chili powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 whole habenaro pepper (Don't blame me if you get a seed under your fingernail!)

Directions:
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add in chicken and onions, salt and pepper. Saute until browned. Next pour in green chilis, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder, and toss in the whole habenaro pepper (if you so desire) lowering heat to medium and cook 10 minutes, stiring frequently. While this is cooking, place your diced potatoes in a microwave safe bowl with 1/4 cup water and microwave for 10 minutes. After the potatoes have microwaved, drain any remaining water and add the potatoes into the meat mixture, check your seasonings for taste and add in 1/2 cup water. Reduce heat and cover, simmering over low heat for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender and water is absorbed. Adjust seasonings if necessary.