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!

Ch-ch-chain-ges

We've been busy round here..really busy. Warmer weather is coming..finally! We've been enjoying spending time on the covered porch and being outside without a coat.

One of the things that calms me most is drawing. Doodling really, mindless patterning. It makes me feel good, my hands just work and I play with line or color and don't really think about anything 'real' like my to-do list. My mind ponders bigger questions, or I listen well, or I just get lost in working the paper. It's bliss.

My favorite motif as of late have been links. I don't think of the ropes of links as chains, I see the links as individuals tied together. I don't know why, but as I'm drawing it makes a difference. Braids are similar, and I've also done pieces with links and braids together. These are the latest, two marker drawings (one's not done yet) and a watercolor. These are 11x17.

I love this house, the change in weather, the daffodils blooming in the back yard. It's a lovely spring.

Vintage is Better: Caffeine

Finally...after 38 years, several coffee pots and lots of bad cups of joe later, I have figured out how to make a good cup of coffee consistently. I even bought a Keurig several years ago so I could offer guests something drinkable. No longer!

It's my coffee pot. I bought a corningware nine cup percolator at an estate sale. Just fill with cool water to the waterline marking the amount you want, add the metal basket and scoop in one tablespoon for every cup, and set over medium low heat. Then wait. The coffee will boil and perk over the grounds, giving you delicious results. You can see how strong the brew is by looking at the boil in the glass bubble in the lid. I can also smell when it's done. Yummmmm!

It's way better than any electric drip coffee maker I ever used. It doesn't use filters either- the grounds stay in the metal basket. No waste, and it cleans up in a snap.

I am on the hunt for a four cup with a ceramic spout- as it seems these were eventually recalled in the 70s as the handle could become separated from the pot. There's not that issue with the four cup percolators.

Still- I love this coffeepot dearly!

Recipe:Beefsteak

One of the benefits of living with Matty is that he's a fantastic cook. It means I have to do the dishes, but when I get to eat terrific food like this, I don't mind one bit. This is one of my favorite meals that he makes for us. It's a recipe he learned from a Filipino friend in college, and it's quite simple and incredibly delicious. I'm warning you though- it's really really salty and really lemony, but that's how we like it. The first time I had it, I don't think I cared for it all that much, but now I crave the lemony saltiness of it. I'm sure you could alter the proportions to your liking. I find I like it best when he uses big sweet vidalia onions, but he likes regular yellow cooking onions best, because they have a little bite. Also, the amounts listed are approximate, this is a recipe he literally throws together by eyeballing it.  I encourage you to give it try. We eat it over hot jasmine rice. YUM!

Beefsteak

1/2 c lemon juice
1/2 c soy sauce
2 lb sandwich steaks (flank steak also works well)
2-3 medium onions
4 tbsp olive oil

1. Add the lemon juice to the soy sauce in a bowl. Matt uses a big glass Pyrex one that doesn't react with the acid.

 

2. Pound your steak between plastic wrap to 1/8". You can also slice your meat thinly. Cut the meat into 2" squares.

3. Add the meat to the lemon soy marinade. This is where I tell you to marinate overnight. Usually, Matt marinates the meat for 30 minutes whiles he slices the onions, wipes the tears from his face, and gets the skillet nice and hot.

4. Sllice onions to 1/2" thick rings.

drool

 5. The marinated meat should have browned in the marinade. I think the acid helps to cook it. Get your skillet or wok nice and hot. It's best to use a skillet with high sides if you have one. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil to the hot skillet. It should be so hot the oil smokes.

6. Use tongs to add the meat to the skillet. Be careful- the oil will spatter.

 7. If you have a skillet with high sides- push the meat up the sides of the pan to avoid stewing the meat in it's juices

8. Cook over high heat until the marinade is reduced.

9. Add the remaining marinade back to the pan and deglaze (scrape up all the delicious flavor nuggets cooked on the bottom). Cook for a minute.

10.Remove meat and  marinade to a serving dish. Add remaining oil to skillet and return to high heat. Add several tablespoons of the cooked marinade and onions and cook until translucent and crisp tender.

11. Heap cooked onions over steak. Serve with hot cooked rice!

Shiny Shiny

When I was a little girl my mother called me Magpie. She told me I'd drop a five dollar bill to pick up a piece of tinfoil. This is true to this day. I love shiny. Sparkly, sweet, glittery.

I work full time. I have three children in my life (and lots of nieces and nephews) but I'm not a Mom. I'm over 35. I travel a lot. I  love to make things- jewelry, drawings, paintings, knitted scarves, stamped handmade cards, cookies, embellished clothes. I love organization, makeup (nail polish!), photography, vintage cookware. I like to come up with my own recipes too.

I'm constantly doodling.

I love telling stories. I try crazy stuff. Some things work, somethings don't. This is the place where I'll share my favorites, this is the nest where I collect my sparkly treasures.