Circle B Kitchen
This is one of our very favorite ways to eat tacos. It's a bit more work than just browning some ground meat (which we also like), but it's well worth the effort. After slow cooking in the oven, this meat just falls apart. We cook it with chorizo which gives it incredible flavor. Sometimes I use links of chicken chorizo from Whole Foods, but have recently discovered Cacique soy chorizo and we love it! We also love our homemade salsa verdeon these tacos, but for sure, use whatever salsa or hot sauce you prefer. This shredded chicken is also great for burritos, tostadas and enchiladas.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 lb chicken thighs
1/2 lb Mexican chorizo sausage
1/2 onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1 teaspoon taco seasoning
3/4 cup chicken broth
Chipotles in adobo (optional)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Remove the chorizo from the casing and crumble into an already pretty hot 10" skillet. Using a spatula or spoon to break it up while it cooks. After the chorizo is about cooked through (5-6 minutes), remove it from the pan into a bowl and set aside.
Add the sliced onions to the pan and saute for about 5-6 minutes or until they're pretty soft. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
Sprinkle one side of the chicken thighs with the taco seasoning. If needed, add a little more vegetable oil to the pan and then place the chicken pieces, seasoned side up into the pan. Let them cook for about 3 or 4 minutes and then turn them over. You may need a spatula to loosen them from the pan. Let them cook on the second side until nicely browned, another 3 or 4 minutes and then remove to plate.
Your pan should now be quite dark on the bottom with lots of flavor from the chorizo, onions and chicken. If it seems like there's a lot of oil in the pan, remove all but a few teaspoons. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and using a metal spatula, scrape up the dark bits from the bottom of the pan and let the broth simmer for 5 minutes or so to concentrate the flavors.
Add the chorizo, the chicken and the onions back into the pan, cover tightly and place in the preheated oven for an hour and a half.
Remove the lid and use two forks to shred the chicken. Stir the shredded chicken into the sauce with the chorizo and onions. Taste for salt and pepper (I usually add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt here, but it depends on how salty your taco seasoning was). If you'd like the chicken a little more spicy, you can stir some chopped chipotles in adobo into the sauce.
For the tacos:
Corn tortillas, warmed through
thinly shredded cabbage
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
salsa verde
queso cheese
avocado slices
several lime wedges
fresh cilantro
In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk, lime juice, salt and black pepper. Add the shredded cabbage and mix thoroughly.
To assemble your tacos, place the shredded chicken in a heated soft (or crispy) corn tortilla and top with some of the shredded cabbage mixture and then some salsa verde, a good sprinkling of cheese, some fresh cilantro leaves and a slice of avocado. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over each taco.