Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Tomatillo Chicken Tacos

So, one would think that there would be AMAZING Mexican food in the EP. And there is, but it is hard to find between the thousands of truly tasteless fast food rip-offs. So, in my quest to never leave the house, I opened my Rick Bayless book and tried the following, and it was FREAKING AWESOME.

Essential Simmered Tomatillo-Serrano Sauce (makes 1 1/4 C, but you might want to septuple it because it is delicious on EVERYTHING.)
8 oz (5-6 med) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Fresh serrano chiles (2 is slightly more than Jooj can handle, but if you have no toddlers, hit 3), stemmed
1 1/2 T oil
1/2 med white onion, roughly chopped (I don't like white, so I used yellow. White is the preferred in Mexico, so do what you want with that information.)
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
1 C chicken broth
3 T cilantro, roughly chopped
salt to taste

1. Turn on your broiler. It is under your stove.
2. Roast the tomatillos and chiles on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler until blackened and soft on one side (about 5 min) and then turn them over and roast on the other side. They will get messy and ugly.
3. Transfer (including ALL THE JUICE) to your blender.
4. Heat 1 T oil in large skillet over med. Sautee onion and garlic until golden. (Add garlic at very end, it only takes a minute). Add to blender. Puree medium coarse.
5. Heat the remaning 1/2 T oil in skillet over med-high. Add puree all at once and stir for about 5 min, until noticeable darker and thick. Stir in broth and cover, simmering for about 10 min. Stir in cilantro and salt.

For the rest of the dish you need:
12 corn tortillas
2 C greens (Any kind you want. Don't feel the need to get all fruity on us.)
1 1/3 C cooked, shredded chicken (about 2 breasts)
1/2-3/4 C Asadero or queso fresco cheese. (In the dairy. It is there. It is Mexican. Just look. If it is not there, you could use something like a romano combined with a smelly goat cheese, but it won't translate as well.)

1. Put your veggie steamer in a pot with about 1/2 of water and set it to boil. Wrap the tortillas ina heavy towel and let them steam in the steamer for 1 minute. Turn off the heat, and leave them in there with the lid closed for 15 minutes.
2. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the greens. Return to boil. Stir in chicken and simmer until greens are done. (less than 5 minutes.)

3. Make tacos out of it.

2 comments:

QueenScarlett said...

How do you have time to do all this? Sounds delicious... totally enjoyed the narrative.

La Yen said...

It really took very little time--the chicken can be cooked at any time, and the broiler is just a few minutes. Then it is just blend, warm, and eat. I was surprised at how quickly it all came together.