The chicken thighs sat thawing on the kitchen counter for most of the day. Chris has to work and I worked around the house being the best House Husband I could possibly be. Chris brought the bacon to a spotless home and lonely furry guy and our attention turned to the chicken on the counter.
“What are we doing with that?” She asked.
“I don’t know. I figured I would thaw it out and we’d come up with something.”
With that we ventured to the grocery store and wandered the aisles looking for a sense of inspiration. Chris was in a daze from being slammed at work all weekend and I am just not that creative. The best I could come up with was “Um, how about something spicy that I will pay dearly for tomorrow?”
This is what she came up with.
The Chicken, Part One
Season chicken with chipotle chili pepper, garlic salt, paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper.
Heat pan, add oil, and add chicken
Cook chicken until browned, then dump all but about a tablespoon of grease
Add one chopped onion, one chopped clove of garlic, and ½ fresh jalapeño (chopped)
Stir, scraping chicken-y goodness from bottom of pan.
Deglaze pan using the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that you might already be sipping.
Add one can of whole peeled tomatoes (just the ‘maters, no juice, as Chef Chris has not yet decided how saucy this should be)
Let simmer for a bit then taste
Taste test results are in and we are adding some things… a bit more salt and pepper, cumin and
coriander… plus the new addition of Mexican oregano (or regular oregano if that is all you have).
Now let us add some more stuff….
½ cup or so of Zapata Fire Roasted Salsa Verde (medium heat)
½ lime’s worth of juice
Two Chipotle Peppers, whole
Big Daddy’s Amplified Heat Hot Sauce (she said a tablespoon but I am pretty sure it was more)
“Turn on low and let her go”
At this point, the chicken needed to slow cook for a bit but Chris has other stuff to make so allow me to skip around for a minute. I promise we will come back to the chicken.
Asian Corn Slaw
½ Bag of frozen corn
½ Small onion, finely chopped
Little bit of parsley, in lieu of the cilantro we do not have on hand
Three shots of Big Daddy’s Amplified Heat Hot Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Comrade Chili Dumpling Sauce
Mix for Yummy Asian Goodness to mix with chicken
Taste and realize that you would have been MUCH more satisfied with cilantro. Put mix in fridge to
chill while you haul butt to the Mexican grocery store to buy cilantro. (NOTE: Do not forget the
fact that you have chicken on the stove top. Either turn it off or leave your husband at home.
Better yet, try to have cilantro on hand before you get started. My Wife Gives Good Kitchen
will not be responsible if you burn down your house during this step.)
chill while you haul butt to the Mexican grocery store to buy cilantro. (NOTE: Do not forget the
fact that you have chicken on the stove top. Either turn it off or leave your husband at home.
Better yet, try to have cilantro on hand before you get started. My Wife Gives Good Kitchen
will not be responsible if you burn down your house during this step.)
Return home and add cilantro, rice vinegar and 13 more drops of Amplified Heat
Taste and feel extremely pleased with your decision to run to the Mexican grocery store. It helps that
it is only ½ mile away.
it is only ½ mile away.
Back To The Chicken
Remove the chicken from pan. By the way, it cooked at 150° for “almost exactly about an hour”.
Yes, that is an exact quote and is the vaguest time reference I have ever heard.
Yes, that is an exact quote and is the vaguest time reference I have ever heard.
Use fancy blending wand on sauce. I think it is called an immersion blender but Cuisinart calls it a
Smart Stick which is childishly funny to me.
Smart Stick which is childishly funny to me.
Chop up the chicken and mix back in with sauce.
Now let us put it all together…
Enchiladas
Dip the tortillas in the sauce mixture
Add meat and cheese and roll it all up like
an enchilada (since that is what you are
making and all).
an enchilada (since that is what you are
making and all).
Place in baking dish (coated with sauce in
its base first)
its base first)
Top with a bit more cheese and sauce
Bake at 400 for a bit.
Tacos
Lightly toast soft tortillas in cast iron skillet
Add chicken, sauce, cheese and the Asian
corn slaw.
corn slaw.
It is just a taco so fold it and eat it. You know what you are doing.
Results and Final Thoughts
I really, really love how my wife can be totally exhausted and have no more inspiration than her idiot husband saying “um, I dunno… something spicy?” and make an outstanding meal. It is always fascinating to watch her brain take an idea or single ingredient and turn it into something complete and totally unique. It is like the Iron Chef without the time constraints and better music in the background. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the spice level was enough to get your attention without making the meal unpleasant to eat (I will freely admit that I am a lightweight when it comes to the hot stuff). This made a fantastic and fun Sunday dinner with plenty to go back to for leftovers Tuesday night.
Just for the record, I did pay dearly for this the next day… and it was totally worth it.
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