6 hours ago, weinoo said:She does kinda look as if she's hanging out on a corner.
She can hang out on my corner anytime! I too, love the flavor of a well cared for and cooked simple chicken.
Tonight, as on many nights in my small household, it was repurposed leftovers. Friday, during the worst part of our ice/sleet/snow storm, I cooked off a rack of spare ribs in the crockpot, and had featured them in their original form in two meals already. I decided to go Latin with my dinner tonight.
I didn't want to run them under the broiler again for fear of drying them out, so I took the meat off the bone and shredded it, then nuked them in a bit of the mostly defatted gelatinous stock they had been refrigerated in.
I made a fresh pico de gallo with Roma tomatoes and onion for the husband. I added roasted jalapeno for me. I wanted cilantro on my last grocery shop, but what was offered was dying, so alas, no cilantro. I shredded up some iceberg, shredded the last of the pepper jack along with some cheddar. I heated canned La Costena refried beans and topped with the cheese blend to serve separately. Plenty of Taco Bell hot taco sauce to top my beans.
Then, what really set this meal into the memorable category for both of us was frying the flour tortillas. A now defunct Mexican resto used to offer one dish that was served on a crisp fried flour tortilla, and by the time their's arrived at the table, most of it was soggy. From the still crispy edges, I remembered the potential of this dish, and decided to adopt the idea.
I used Guerrero brand large burrito tortillas from Texas, and fried them in 1-1/2 cups hot oil in a large 12" skillet for a few minutes until they were puffed, golden brown and flaky/crispy as good phyllo. They are more expensive than others on offer, but are more flexible, moist and soft. A hard, stale tortilla won't puff and flake like these did. I drained and blotted on thicknesses of cheap paper towels.
After dinner, I poured the cooled oil into a spouted glass measuring cup and then into an empty oil bottle so it can be reused. Almost all of the oil came back.
The husband wanted me to pile the meat, lettuce, pico and cheese on his to serve. I whisked his to the table hot from the fryer, having drained the rib meat well, so it was still hot, fresh and crispy. He asked me why mine was so much better than the restaurant's version.
I wanted mine just as crispy as possible, so I broke off pieces of the tortilla, keeping all the toppings separate, and topped a bite at a time with the various components. Meanwhile, the rest of my crispy tortilla was kept hot on the stovetop nestled in its paper towel robe.
Husband's dish was a prettier presentation, but I have no doubt that the contrasting textures of mine were superior.
