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Chicken with Rajas and Corn

This quick, convenient recipe is a Southwestern take on a popular Southern classic—sweet summer corn and barbecued chicken. Sautéing the chicken to brown the surface deepens both color and flavor and approximates the Mexican technique of cooking on a comal or griddle. To cut down on the preparation time for this recipe, use a good, all-natural rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 6 tacos

Ingredients

1/2 poblano chile, oil-roasted, peeled, cored, and seeded (page 154)
1/2 sweet red bell pepper, oil-roasted, peeled, cored, and seeded (page 154)
2 jalapeño chiles, dry-roasted (page 154)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small white onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 1/4-pound roasted chicken, skinned and shredded (about 1 1/2 pounds picked meat)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 1 large ear fresh corn), dry-roasted (page 157)
1 1/2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
6 (5 1/2-inch) soft yellow corn tortillas (page 13), for serving
Garnish: Pickled Onions with Sweet Bell Peppers (page 146)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Cut the prepared poblano chile, red bell pepper, and jalapeño chiles (with seeds) into 1/4-inch-thick strips (rajas); set aside.

    Step 2

    In a large, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat and sauté the diced onion until it begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the reserved chile and bell pepper, the shredded cooked chicken, salt, corn, jalapeños, and Tabasco and gently heat (you may need to add about 1/4 cup water to keep the mixture from drying out).

    Step 3

    Remove from the heat and serve immediately or keep warm in the pan until ready to serve.

    Step 4

    To serve, lay the tortillas side by side, open face and overlapping on a platter. Divide the filling equally between the tortillas and top with salsa and garnish. Grab, fold, and eat right away. Or build your own taco: lay a tortilla, open face, in one hand. Spoon on some filling, top with salsa and garnish, fold, and eat right away.

Tacos by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Copyright © 2009 by Mark Miller with Benjamin Hargett and Jane Horn. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Mark Miller is the acclaimed chef-founder of Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has started and owned thirteen different restaurants on three continents from 1979 to 2008. He is the author of ten books with nearly 1 million copies in print, including Tacos, The Great Chile Book, The Great Salsa Book, and Coyote Cafe. Mark currently works in International Culinary Consulting and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Benjamin Hargett is a travel-loving chef who has cooked in Europe, the Carribean, Mexico, and the United States, where he worked with Mark Miller at the Coyote Café for many years.
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