Here are some pretty good slow cooked chicken tacos I made last night.
3 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 chopped jalapeno
1 can chopped Serrano peppers
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp brown sugar
corn tortillas
chopped lettuce
chopped onions
chopped cilantro
salsa
refried beans
cheese
I put the chicken into a pot that was just big enough for them each to have their own spot. I poured in the canned tomatoes and peppers and the sugar and cumin. It came most of the way up the side of the chicken breasts. I put a lid on this and heated it on low for 3 hours. I had just enough heat for it so be right on the verge of boiling the whole time. You will know they are done when they fall apart really easily. I pulled them out of the sauce they cooked in, ripped it all up, and then put them in a bowl with whatever was still chunky from the sauce. I then poured some of the sauce onto the chicken just to the point where it coated everything and added a little moisture.
I then heated the corn tortillas on a cast iron skillet for about 10 seconds on each side. After the meat, I topped it with lettuce, onions, cilantro and salsa. There was a side of beans with cheese as you can see in the picture.
Yes, I stole this recipe from the Food Network, but I pretty much steal everything I have from others.
Roasted Tomatillo Chile Salsa:
1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 white onion, peeled, sliced, quartered or whole
4 garlic cloves
2 jalapenos
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 lime, juiced
Enchiladas:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock,
storebought Chopped cilantro leaves
1 deli roasted chicken (about 3 pounds), boned, meat shredded
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
10 large flour tortillas
1/2 pound Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
2 cups sour cream
Chopped tomatoes and cilantro leaves, for garnish
Spicy Black Beans, recipe follows
Yellow Rice, recipe follows
Guacamole, optional
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
For the salsa: On a baking tray, roast tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapenos for 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer the roasted vegetables and any juices on the bottom of the tray to a food processor. Add the cumin, salt, cilantro, and lime juice and pulse mixture until well combined but still chunky.
Enchiladas: Meanwhile heat a 2 count of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and caramelized - this should take 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin then cook for a further minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir to ensure the flour doesn't burn then gradually add the chicken stock to make a veloute. Continue stirring over a low simmer until the flour cooks and the liquid thickens. Turn off the heat, add half of the roasted tomatillo chile salsa, some additional fresh chopped cilantro and fold in the shredded chicken meat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Change the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F and begin assembling the dish. Take a large baking dish and smear the bottom with some of the reserved tomatillo salsa. Now take the flour tortillas and briefly flash them over the stove-top flame (or put them briefly under the broiler if using an electric stove). Using a shallow bowl, coat each tortilla lightly with the reserved salsa mix. Put a scoop of the shredded chicken-enchilada mix on top of the tortilla followed by a sprinkle of the shredded cheese. Fold the tortilla over the filling and roll like a cigar to enclose it. Using a spatula place the tortillas in the baking dish and continue to do the same with all the tortillas. Finally pour over some more of the salsa and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes until bubbly and cracked on top. Garnish, cilantro and tomato.
Serve hot with Spicy Black Beans and Yellow Rice, the remaining tomatillo salsa, sour cream and fresh guacamole, if desired.
Spicy Black Beans:
2 cups (about 1 pound) dried black beans, picked over, soaked overnight
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf Kosher
salt
freshly ground black pepper
In a large pot, soak beans overnight covered in water by 2 inches. Drain and set aside.
In the same pot, heat the olive oil. Add the onion, jalapeno pepper, garlic, and bay leaf and cook until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by about 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the beans are tender. Remove the bay leaf and discard. Taste the beans and season with salt and pepper.
Yellow Rice:
2 cups long-grain rice
4 cups water
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 bay leaf
Put all the ingredients into a heavy-bottomed pot, stir well, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook over low heat until the rice has absorbed the water, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Discard the garlic and bay leaf, fluff with a fork, and serve.
Okay. This makes A LOT of food. Enough to feed probably 8 people. The rice is the biggest portion here. I would suggest cutting down the recipe down by half or even a forth. The beans were a good portion, and the enchlades you might want to cut in half as well.
I made some alterations to this recipe when I made it. My family doesn't like the texture that flour tortillas produce in dishes like an enchilada when they soak in juices. We substituted yellow corn tortillas wich are much smaller than the flour tortillas called for. Instead of using 10, we ended up using just under 30. For the black beans we used canned. We have found that these often will have a very dirty taste to them but that can be avioded if you rinse them in a strainer under cold water for a few minutes.
Those are the only adjustments I think we made, but if we did it again (and I hope we do because they are freakin' good) we would also cut the recipe size down big time.
This is my first post for the mexican theme. I have a couple other things in mind also.
2 1/2 c. cubed turkey
1 1/2 c. sour cream, divided
3 t. taco seasoning,divided
10 3/4 ounces can cream of mushroom soup, divided
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese,divided
1 small onion,chopped
1/2 c. salsa
1/4 c. sliced ripe olives
10 flour tortillas (7 inches)
shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, & additional salsa & olives, optional
In a bowl, combine turkey, 1/2 c. sour cream, 1 1/2 t. taco seasoning, half of the soup, 1 c. of cheese, onion, salsa & olives. Place 1/3 c. filling on each tortilla. Rollup & place, seam side down, in a greased 13 inch by 9 inch baking dish. Combine remaining sour cream, taco seasoning & soup; pour over roll-ups. Cover & bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through, Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, salsa & olives if desired.
Just a quiky here. And it is almost THEME related. I'll call it queso picante.
1 lb (16 oz) Velveeta or similar cheese
1 can Ro-Tel tomato and jalapeno.
Mix together and heat in microwave until is is yummy. I know this isn't gourmet or really authentic, but it is a post.
So it's been decided. As you can see on the right of your screen, the majority of you voted to make the month of September a Mexican Food theme.
Remember, this does not mean that every post has to fit the theme. It's simply to encourage the lot of us to all try our hands at some Mexican food.
Feel free to post as many recipes as you like.
