Grilled Chicken Tortillas with salsa and guacamole
On my to-do list is to travel to Mexico. I'm a big fan of Mexican food and love to cook it at home.The perception of Mexican food is of "tex-mex", greasy tacos, but that is far from the reality. So far my culinary trips have been through cook books and what you always read about are fresh ingredients. There's nothing better than nicely grilled chicken fresh off the BBQ with a spicy salsa sauce.
So here's my tribute to Mexican food with my take on tortillas.
Chicken Tortillas
4 chicken thighs kept whole, but bone removed,
Flatten them slightly to tenderise and ensure an even size for cooking (you can use a meat tenderiser or a rolling pin to do this)
I like to use a spice rub before BBQing, my favourite is the chicken rub from Ataro's food and spices which has a nice kick to it or you can use the following recipe
Spice Rub
15g sweet paprika
5g smoked sweet paprika
5g pimenton
5g garlic powder
5g onion powder
5g Cumin seeds (ground)
2g Cinnamon stick (ground)
2g black peppercorns (ground)
10g oregano (dried)
5g chipoltle chilli flakes
5g brown sugar
5g celery salt
Mix all the above ingredients together to make the rub
Oil the thighs and then sprinkle the rub over and massage in, leave to marinate for 2-3 hours
To cook the thighs
BBQ - Cook on direct heat at 250C for 2-3 mins each side, using hickory chips for extra smokiness
Grill - the chicken can be cooked on a high heat for 2-3 mins
Cover with foil and allow to rest before serving with the salsa and tortillas
For the salsa sauce
3 tomatoes finely chopped or 200g tin of tomatoes
70ml Madeira wine or Port
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
3 scallions sliced
1 tablespoon of tomato purée
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1 red chilli or as many as you like for flavour and heat, finely chopped
Salt and pepper
Oil for frying
BBQ tip
For those of you cooking on the BBQ, keeping the tomatoes, chillies and scallions whole, you can chargrill these while cooking the chicken.
It will add a nice smoky flavour to the sauce.
Allow to cool before chopping up and continuing with the salsa.
Add the garlic to some oil in the pan, cook out on a medium heat for 5 minutes
Add the tomatoes and the tomato purée, continue to cook on medium heat till the “sauce” has reduced to a thickened consistency
Add the paprika and fry for a couple of minutes
Add the scallions and chillies and mix
Turn the heat up high; add the Madeira wine and flame (if you feel brave enough), once the flames have subsided, transfer the ingredients to a bowl to serve or if not flaming cook for 1-2 mins on a high heat
Season with salt and pepper
To serve
Slice the chicken thighs and serve wrapped in warm tortillas with grated cheese, the salsa and guacamole
Guacamole
1 avocado
Few dashes tobasco
Half clove of garlic crushed
Juice half lemon
Salt and pepper to season
Peel and de-seed 1 avocado, remove the flesh and mash with a fork
Add the crushed garlic and the juice of half a lemon, a few dashes of tobasco, salt and pepper and mix well
Oil for frying
BBQ tip
For those of you cooking on the BBQ, keeping the tomatoes, chillies and scallions whole, you can chargrill these while cooking the chicken.
It will add a nice smoky flavour to the sauce.
Allow to cool before chopping up and continuing with the salsa.
Add the garlic to some oil in the pan, cook out on a medium heat for 5 minutes
Add the tomatoes and the tomato purée, continue to cook on medium heat till the “sauce” has reduced to a thickened consistency
Add the paprika and fry for a couple of minutes
Add the scallions and chillies and mix
Turn the heat up high; add the Madeira wine and flame (if you feel brave enough), once the flames have subsided, transfer the ingredients to a bowl to serve or if not flaming cook for 1-2 mins on a high heat
Season with salt and pepper
To serve
Slice the chicken thighs and serve wrapped in warm tortillas with grated cheese, the salsa and guacamole
Guacamole
1 avocado
Few dashes tobasco
Half clove of garlic crushed
Juice half lemon
Salt and pepper to season
Peel and de-seed 1 avocado, remove the flesh and mash with a fork
Add the crushed garlic and the juice of half a lemon, a few dashes of tobasco, salt and pepper and mix well
0 comments