During this 4th of July holiday of Independence, I did many less than typical things... with my food, that is! On Independence day itself, instead of having BBQ, I opted to get some tasty Japanese sushi. Which were made by a very personable man who spoke more Chinese than English, but chatted with us just, nonetheless. It was great. I ordered two rolls: The Fire Roll, and The Ninja Roll. My girlfriend ordered The Denver Bomb Roll, wrapped with cucumber instead of seaweed; odd but good. Afterwards, we watched a documentary called “Forks Over Knives.” A documentary about taking out all animal byproducts from our diet, especially meat. It was a very interesting movie, and it got me thinking. So much so, that promptly after the movie I ate a slice of a Boston Creme Strawberry Shortcake Cake. I think it was well deserved.
Fast-forward one day to July 5th, and what do I want? Still no BBQ, but some Mexican food. And that is why I’m here today, I want to tell you about this awesome dinner I made of Mexican influence. I’d like to call it chicken carnitas, but I don’t think I can because the chicken isn’t shredded. So, instead I’ll call it chicken tacos. Also, I’m adding the tortilla recipe that I (ahem... my girlfriend) used for this meal. I never like all the lard/oil/fat that is used in the recipes I find online, so I decided to not use any oil in my tortilla recipe and replace it with apple butter. It’s not like your traditional tortilla. It’s definitely thicker, and you can smell the apple when it’s being cooked. But, when all is said and done and you’re making your taco with it, the taste is amazing and it’s foldable! It didn’t break on me, not even once!! Which, I think, is a victory. Also, I didn’t smell or taste any apple, if you’re worried about that.
Chicken Tacos Recipe
2 Pieces of chicken breast
3 Cloves garlic chopped up
1 Medium onion, chopped/diced
1 Red (or any color) Bell Pepper
~1 tbsp oil
For the marinade: place in a Med size bowl
1.5 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Cilantro (if you like it)
Pinch of red pepper powder(depending on how spicy you like)
1.5 tbsp Oregano
1.5 tbsp Cumin
~0.5-1 tsp Salt
1-3 tbsp lemon Juice (it gets lemony quickly)
Add some (freshly) ground pepper to taste at the end
Directions:
Cut up the chicken in nice diced pieces and add to the mixture of marinade.
Stir to coat well, and let marinade for at least 10 Min.
Chop up the onion, bell pepper and garlic.
Put the oil in a large pan and heat up.
Once the oil is good and hot, add the onions, garlic and bell pepper to the pan.
Saute until you get a nice smell from the mixture, I’d say about 5-10 min.
Add the chicken to the pan (make sure it’s had an ample amount of time to marinate)
Cook for 15-20 min uncovered until the chicken is fully cooked.
Add some pepper and stir in.
Awesome Apple-Butter Tortillas
3 C. unbleached flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3.5 tbsp Apple Butter
about 1 1/4 C. warm water **DON’T ADD ALL AT ONCE. Add a little at a time, you will most likely not need all of this water.
This is very simple.
Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl.
Add all of the wet ingredients and stir.
You don’t want it too sticky (but if it is, try rolling the balls you make with it in extra flour)
Let it sit for 10-15 min
Make little balls and form it with a tortilla press (or you could try a rolling pin)
Cook on med high without oil, until there are nice little brown pan marks on it.
Finally, when you’re making the taco, add some cheese and, if you’re really adventurous, some roasted peppers. I roasted some Jalapenos the last time I grilled out, and it was very hot! but tasty.
Let me know how you like the recipe in the comment section!
Thanks
