Thursday, March 27, 2008

Chicken Tacos


With all that chicken I made, we have had a lot of chicken dishes lately. Luckily, chicken is a versatile thing (unlike, say, a toilet plunger, which pretty much has only one use). So, Mr. Chicken put on a sombrero and said "Ole!" and poof! We had chicken tacos! Well, not poof, exactly. I had to make them. Mr. Chicken didn't automatically hop into a pan with seasonings and become a taco. But I digress.

I shredded some of the meat, then sauteed it with green peppers, zucchini, fresh jalapeno and some tomatillos. I also used a few yummy spices that make things "Mexican," at least at my house. I used cumin (I
love cumin!), paprika, Muzzy's Magic seasoning, (the kind with jalapeno and cilantro) a bit of cayenne, chili powder and of course, good ol' S&P. I squeezed some fresh lime juice over everything.


I made a quick guacamole with jalapenos, cilantro (I love cilantro! Some people think it tastes like soap. I think those people are crazy. Oh well. More cilantro for me!), lime juice and a bit of already prepared salsa to add some color.

Another condiment I made is mango salsa. Well, I guess it's technically a pico de gallo, but who really cares?
De gallo, salsa, let's call the whole thing off.

I digress. The mango salsa de gallo (now everyone's happy!) had fresh-cut mango, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro (lots of cilantro! Did I mention I like cilantro?) and some sliced cherry tomatoes. And, as always, S&P. Good lord it was good. It was la mierda, even.



So, now that we have all our taco components, let's make a taco! I used both corn and flour tortillas. Because I'm a wild child! I live on the edge! Why be confined to the constraints of taco-dom? Break free!



Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the sour cream. I put some on there. Because I love sour cream.

The tacos were awesome! The chicken was still moist, flavorful and delicious, and this time it had a Mexican twist. Ole!



VCK's Chicken Tacos

Corn AND flour tortillas (Break the mold! Eat both!)
Chicken taco filling
Sour cream (if you're a sour cream lover like me. If not, be lame and leave it out.)


For the chicken taco filling:
Leftover roast chicken, shredded
1/2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2-3 tomatillos, chopped
1/4 fresh jalapeno (leave the ribs and seeds in if you like it spicy)
Paprika
Cumin
Chili powder
Muzzy's magic seasoning (or any type of season salt)
Cayenne
Juice of just a little less than 1/2 lime

Saute vegetables in olive oil 'til they're tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add chicken and spices and stir. Reduce heat and keep warm.

For the mango salsa de gallo
1/2 mango, peeled and cut into bite-size chunks
Cilantro-- a lot
2-3 cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 1/2 lime
Zest of 1 lime
S&P (or use more Muzzy's. I won't tell)

Dump all ingredients in a bowl*. Stir a few times. I know, it's really hard.

Quick Guac
1 avocado
Cilantro
Juice from the rest of that lime
Some more of that jalapeno, chopped finely
A few spoonfuls of prepared salsa (steal some from your mango salsa! I won't tell)
Muzzy's seasoning

Moosh up the avocado with a fork. Dump the rest of the ingredients in*. Stir.

Now you have everything ready for your tacos! Warm up your tortillas, then put all your delectable ingredients inside. It's now a fiesta!

*This is a real cooking technique. Really. They teach it at Le Cordon Bleu, only there they have some fancy-pants pretentious term for it. But I know the truth.+

+Ok, so here is something highly amusing. I typed in "dump" into a translation service and got this: décharge publique. I translated it back into English and got this: public disposal. Ok, so maybe they don't teach that at Le Cordon Bleu...



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I prefer to say something awesome is 'la raja'. Same idea, but it sounds cooler!