Photo courtesy John Fulton Photography
My brother-in-law John (aka Fulton) arrived Sunday afternoon from SoCal. He’s high end photographer in LA and came into town to help me get a jump start on shooting my Cooking with Your Kids cookbook. Over the last three days, we’ve made, styled, and photographed 27 recipes. Imagine the countertops in my kitchen. Horror.
To counteract the kitchen chaos, Fulton arrived with his Zen-like, intelligent, artisic & hilarious self and turned the task of recipe making and photogging into a total treat. We listened to the BeeGee’s, tossed sea salt across plates like confetti, debated the life-changing rap scene in Teen Witch.
That’s us up there, bouncing the light just right across a plate of something or other. That’s John up there, working his magic. That’s me up there, wearing my saucy jeans. I’d say more about them, but they make me want to swear. I like them a flippin’ lot.
‘Course, this photo is the last documented moment of me wearing said Saucy Jeans. After making 27 recipes in 3 days (including divine little homemade taquitos for Tuesday lunch), they likely won’t button around my bellybutton.
All in a days work, eh?
Chicken Taquitos with Green Salsa
This recipe was inspired by a recent viewing of the lovely Patricia Jinich (www.patismexicantable.com) on the Paula Deen show. Her version of Crispy Fried Tacos with Salsa Verde sounded so incredible (oh, who am I kidding? EVERYTHING she creates sounds incredible) so I thought I'd toss together my own, gringo version of them. Delish. The chicken is soft and savory, wrapped in the crisp fresh-fried blanket of a white corn tortilla. The salsa is fresh and sweet. Everything about this meal is perfect. Thanks for the inspiration, Pati!
Ingredients:
FOR THE CHICKEN TAQUITOS:
2 large chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
8-12 white corn tortillas
Canola oil for fryingFOR THE SALSA:
1 1/2 cups yellow tomatoes
1/4 a small purple onion
a big bunch of cilantro
3 tablespoons vinegar
salt to tasteDirections:
FOR THE TAQUITOS:
Mix the chicken with the cumin, chili powder, onion powder, salt, and cheese until well mixed. Press 3-4 tablespoons of the chicken mixture together to form a "snake" that is then rolled tightly into a corn tortilla. To get really great taquitos, I placing the corn tortillas one at a time in very hot water for 3-5 seconds, then removing them quicky, rolling them around your chicken mixture, and allowing them to air dry for a few minutes before placing in a saucepan filled with an inch or so of oil heated to medium heat for frying. Fry the taquitos 2-3 at a time on all sides just until golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with salsa.FOR THE SALSA:
In a blender, puree all ingredients together. Serve with warm, fresh taquitos. Enjoy.
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