Tacos: A Documentary

Let me start by saying that I acknowledge the fact I am very blessed to have a husband who enjoys cooking (and is darn good at it). However, I had to laugh a little as I embarked on the adventure of trying to document this particular meal for my blog. You see, tonight's dinner involved the grill. A domain firmly planted in man territory. Observing my husband in his preparations for the grill I felt a bit like a documentary filmmaker out in the wild....

.....(you have to read this part in a half-whispered British accent).....

Observe, if you will, the adult male in one of his natural habitats. In preparation for his grilling ritual, the male makes habit of visiting the various cupboards throughout the kitchen space, nearly emptying each one of its contents. In a simultaneously haphazard yet thoughtful manner, the male concocts a blend of cupboard contents to apply to the raw meat. Instinctual, the male adds elements as his mood strikes, likely to never recreate quite the same blend again. When approached by the nagging female of his species the male recoils, hesitant to allow her to observe his strange ritual and photograph it for her silly blog. Fearing repercussions, the male is compliant with her requests and quickly retreats to his outdoor escape to complete his grilling ceremony.

And now for your viewing pleasure...

Sara & Jon's Grilled Chicken Soft Tacos
Serves 4 (or alternative - serves 2 plus lunch the next day!)

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs chicken leg quarters (you could use just thighs or even breasts but our supermarket keeps selling leg quarters at 59 cents/lb so we keep buying!!)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 medium red onion + 1 tablespoon minced onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon Tequila (optional)
3 limes
1 lemon
1 orange
3 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
1 tablespoon Adobo seasoning (find in the international foods aisle- Mexican section)
1 packet Sazon Goya seasoning (find in the international foods aisle- Mexican section)
1 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder
1/2 - 1 teaspoon crushed coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 can black beans
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Corn tortillas (amount varies by number your serving and respective appetites)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro to taste
Sour cream and salsa, if desired

Preparation:

The first step is to do the crazy Jon ritual and prepare a marinade/spice blend for the chicken. If you can allow the chicken to marinate a few hours in the fridge it will have great flavor. You'll use a lot of citrus for this marinade.


Squeeze all your citrus into a large bowl or ziploc bag and combine with the oil, tequila if you'd like (we had some sitting around from margaritas we made a few weeks ago), the Adobo, Sazon, garlic and onion powder, crushed coriander seed, oregano, diced chipotles and salt and pepper.


If you've never used them, here are the Adobo


And Sazon Goya spices we used. We've also used these with garlic and olive oil on a pork roast (look up Pernil and thank me later)...they're DIVINE!


Let the chicken hang out in this fantastic Jon concoction for a while if you can afford the time. Here's what ours looked like after a few hours in its refrigerator bath.


Before you get the chicken out to throw on the grill, prep the vegetables. This is super simple, I quartered everything, drizzled it with olive oil and sprinkled it with salt and pepper. Throw the chicken on the grill and cook it until the internal temp reads 165 degrees. The onions will take slightly longer than the peppers to grill - they're best with a little char but not shriveled or crispy.


While the goodies are on the grill it's a great time to start up some black beans. My standard with black beans is to dump the can in the pot and throw in some onion, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, cilantro and ground black pepper. No need for salt - these are already salty. Someday I aspire to cook with dried beans but that day has not yet arrived.



Here are the grilled yummies in all of their glory! Slice the peppers and onions and after allowing it to cool a bit, pull the chicken from the bones with a fork.


The few minutes waiting for the chicken to cool is a great time to heat up the tortillas. Corn tortillas are a great option (fewer calories than flour) but to me are only appealing texturally when heated for a minute or two on each side in a nonstick skillet. We like to use our fancy All Clad crepe pan for this because we've never yet gotten the courage up to make crepes. (However, for the record, it produces fantastic pancakes and omelettes)


The fruits of Jon's labor. Mmmmmmm


Final step is assembling your tacos. I like to start with some black beans, of course the grilled chicken and veggies, then some salsa, a little sour cream, and a sprinkling of fresh cilantro.


I don't know if anything else has this much flavor for this little of a cost. Plus I got to harrass my hubby with my strange note-taking and camera!

Oh, and a bonus meal!!!

We still had a good amount of leftovers after our meal so here's what we did for lunch the next day.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Layer tortilla chips on a baking sheet and top with black beans, chicken and grilled veggies. We happened to have some queso blanco in the fridge so we shredded this over the nachos along with some cheddar cheese.


Pop the tray into the oven long enough for the leftovers to heat up and the cheese to melt. Goodness to follow.


Roll the credits (and note: no husbands were harmed in the shooting of this blog).