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).

Salad - on a grill!

I went through a phase when I was younger when I "hated" lettuce. I mean, I literally decided that I despised it and argued to my parents that I had always hated it. Always. I'm not sure what poor lettuce ever did to me, but I've since come to my senses and realize that lettuce is my friend. In fact, I like my friend lettuce so much that I decided I needed to bring some excitement into its life. Who wants to be cold ALL the time? Not me. So I introduced my friend lettuce to my other friend, the grill. And a beautiful relationship formed...

Nowadays at our house, when we are having salad, it's often grilled. If you've never stuck lettuce on your grill, you're probably not alone. But you should really consider it. The heat of the grill brings out a new flavor that totally lets the lettuce shine! (Not to mention, the recipe couldn't be simpler and requires very little chopping and prepping)

Sara & Jon's Grilled Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine hearts (1 heart usually serves 2 people)
1 head radicchio
Garlic (1 clove, minced per head of lettuce)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea salt
Cracked black pepper
White wine vinegar

Preparation:

I love to make this salad with a combination of both romaine and radicchio for the contrast in color as well as flavor. However, we've made this plenty of times with just romaine and it is still wonderful! If you've never used radicchio, it is a small and compact head of lettuce that by first glance may look like a tiny red cabbage. It has a stronger flavor than romaine or iceburg lettuce - with slightly spicy and bitter hints.



To prep the lettuce, simply half the romaine, leaving the core intact. Because the radicchio is so dense, I typically quarter it.

Important note: these lettuces retain A LOT of moisture. A lot. But because you need the halves or quarters to stay intact to grill them, you can't send them for a ride through the salad spinner. To wash, I usually rinse and place cut-side down on a clean kitchen towel or stack of paper towels and leave them for 30 minutes to an hour. And just before grilling I will blot them again to make sure I get any excess moisture out. Cooked wet lettuce is mushy lettuce. Just say no.

Once my lettuce is sparkly clean and dry, I drizzle it will olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and squish my minced garlic into its little nooks and crannies.

Then place your lettuce on your selected grill surface. We have made this on our grills (charcoal and gas), in our grill pan on the stove and even in our George Foreman grill (just don't close the lid). Because it happened to be raining outside, this lettuce was cooked in the grill pan. I started with the radicchio and placed it into the grill pan cut-side down for 3-4 minutes or until it got grill marks and the edges just started to cook/wilt.

Next was the romaine. This takes only 2-3 minutes to "cook". Obviously if you're doing this on your grill it can happen simultaneously, just put the radicchio on a minute or two earlier.

Here's what you're aiming for on the lettuce. You want to tell it's been on the grill but you still want it to retain its texture and crunch.

All that's left to do is chopping it into bite-sized pieces (removing the cores)

And tossing it into a bowl with a few splashes of white wine vinegar, another drizzle of olive oil and an extra sprinkling of salt and pepper, if you're so inclined.

Another easy way to add a little variety to your veggies!