The days are flying by....

This month is going by so fast!  I still can’t believe next week is turkey day.  I am SO not ready for the holidays!!!  Anyway, today I have a recipe for you.  It’s a traditional Mexican dish called Chicken Tinga.  My cousin introduced it to my mom last year and she has made it several times since then.  I thought I would try to make it as it looked pretty easy, and guess what…it was!  It has one of my favorite ingredients, which is chipotle. We do it up a bit differently in that we add chorizo (but of course!) to add an extra kick to it.

Here are the list of characters:

(serves 4)

1 ½ pound chicken breast (we used boneless but can use in bone…with bone…whatever, you can use it if want)

¼ to ½ pound chorizo (you can omit it if you want)

1 can chipotle chile peppers in adobo sauce

4 fresh tomatoes

½ of a medium onion – finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 ½ to 2 tsp. salt (we used sea salt)

1 dried bay leaf (or you can use ½ teaspoon dried oregano)

In a large pot add the chicken and cover it with water.  Add salt, bay leaf (or oregano), garlic, and bouillon.  Cook for about ½ hour.  Once cooked through (no pink left) then take out of water and set aside to cool.  Reserve about a cup of the water in the pot (chicken stock).

While the chicken is cooling cook the chorizo with the chopped onions on a skillet.  Cook until brown.  Set aside. If omitting chorizo skip this step but you will still need the onions.  Cook onions in oil until translucent (if you were using the chorizo  you would not need oil as the fat from the chorizo is enough).

And while you are cooking the chorizo (yep, multi-tasking here, but if you want to wait you can), cut tomatoes into cubes or thick slices and add them to a blender along with 2 (or more depending on how spicy you like your food) chipotle peppers and 1 (or more) tablespoons of the adobe sauce and some of the chicken stock from the pot – start off with about half a cup.  Blend until smooth – you may need more chicken stock so add it if needed….the sauce should not be too thick…you want it to be a bit runny. 

By this time the chicken should be cool enough to be able to shred it.  You can use the two fork method of shredding or use your (clean) fingers to shred way. 

Once chicken is shredded add to a large pot along with the cooked chorizo (or only onions) and the sauce you made in the blender.  Simmer for about 10 minutes. 

Here is a photo of the finished Chicken Tinga.  We ended up eating it the traditional way, which is in a tostada.  Typically mashed black beans are used, but we also use refried beans. That is your first layer on the tostada, then comes the chicken tinga, then lettuce (optional), and sour cream, and finally cheese (we used “queso fresco” or cotija cheese).  I like adding avocado slices also.  It’s so delicious!  You can also make quesadillas with the meat or tacos or burritos if you are not the tostada type. I’m thinking enchiladas as well!  See, this recipe is very versatile and so easy to make. Try it…you’ll like it!

Until next time...

Luna after her bath.  She does not like to be dirty....when she starts getting stinky I'll ask her, "Do you want a bath?" and she will run to the bath room and waits until I make it up stairs.  She's such a good girl!