Recipe: Chicken Flautas

I've been winging it a lot lately when it comes to making dinner. I decide on something that sounds good, look up some recipes with high ratings and pretty pictures, and then improvise. I hardly ever really follow a recipe to the letter anymore. This has made me realize is that cooking is a LOT about technique.

When I was shopping yesterday I knew I wanted to make a chicken dish tonight, and something mexican. Boneless chicken thighs were on sale, so those went in the cart. I also picked up small corn tortillas and a jar of nacho/queso sauce. Tonight, I made Flautas for the first time.

Flautas:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients for filling:

1 pound skinless boneless chicken (thighs or breasts)

2 cups chicken stock (for poaching) reserve some for filling

3 tbsp (to taste) salsa (or stewed or minced fresh tomatoes)

2 tsp chipotle paste or 1 tbsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp smoked paprika (for poaching liquid) 

1/2 tsp smoked paprika for filling

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

For assembly:

12 six inch corn tortillas

olive oil for frying

salsa, sour cream or yogurt, queso for dipping

I wanted to try a new shredded chicken technique. I've read that you can easily shred cooled chicken with the paddle attachment of your standing mixer. Supposedly this works easily with poached chicken. Today at lunch (I have the luxury of being able to come home at lunch) I decided to try and poach the chicken in my crockpot. I set the timer for four hours, added the thighs, and covered them with chicken stock. I sprinkled the stock with smoked paprika and left it.

When we got home I was happily surprised with the delicious smell. I turned off the crockpot and got my other ingredients ready. I transferred the chicken to my mixing bowl to shred it but to my surprise I couldn't transfer it in one piece. It was so tender it kept falling apart. I just shredded it with my fork.

The paprika didn't heavily flavor the chicken, so I'm sure I could have saved some for other uses- the crockpot poached the chicken so easily. 















I left the chicken to cool further while I prepared the tortillas. I warmed a big nonstick pan and added a quarter tsp olive oil. When the oil was hot, I added a single tortilla and waited till it curled at the edges, then flipped. When the edged curled again, I removed the tortilla to a paper towel. I repeated this process for all twelve of my tortillas.

When the tortillas were done I added chipotle paste to the shredded chicken (you could use powder if you can't get paste), roasted salsa and a ladle of the cooking stock. I wanted the filling to not be too wet, but to sick together. I also added red pepper flakes, onion powder, salt to taste and paprika. I mashed with my fork.


















I lined a cookie sheet with parchment. Parchment was one of the first great tools that now I can't live without. I placed a tortilla on the parchment, added about three to four tablespoons of the chicken filling,  rolled it up, and placed it seam side down on the sheet.

Leaving space between the rolled Flautas, I baked in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. We enjoyed ours with lettuce, scotch bonnet hot sauce, salsa, nacho sauce and plain yogurt.

This recipe taught me some great new techniques. I love poaching in the crockpot! Next time I will make more chicken then needed and save it for other recipes. I also fried tortillas for the first time. 

Next time I want to try with flour tortillas, and I'd also like to try with ground beef or ground chicken. This was delicious with the smoked flavor of the chipotle and paprika, but would also be delicious with cumin taco spices. This filling would also be delicious with cilantro or parsley in wonton wrappers! Oh! The possibilities!