Taco Tuesday - Adobo Chipotle Chicken Tacos

Although husby would be happy if I made the same tacos every single Taco Tuesday, it's fun to switch it up with new recipes and new flavors. Enter: Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce. 

Chipotles are smoked, dried, jalapeños. When pureed with the adobo sauce they come in, they make a spicy, smoky red sauce that's totally different from the flavors I usually cook with on Taco Tuesday. I also switched it up and went with ground chicken this night. Living on the edge, I tell ya ;)

The Filling:

The Adobo Chipotle Ground Chicken was adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe in her June magazine. She inspired me to use ground chicken, which I almost never cook with so it was a nice change of pace. While the chicken was browning, I pureed an entire can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I busted out our Baby Bullet (previously used for making baby food), but a small blender or food processor will work as well. You'll only need a couple tablespoons or so to flavor the chicken, so I used a little to make a chipotle crema and froze the rest in a ziplock baggie. After the chicken cooked for a bit, I added the spices, chicken stock, and the chipotle puree, and let it all simmer. Warning - the filling is going to be a bit spicy! To tone down the heat, try adding less of the chipotle puree. 

The Topping: 

I served the chicken in charred white corn tortillas (I just heated them up on a skillet), and topped the tacos with a chipotle crema (sour cream mixed with a bit of the chipotle puree). However, this was spicy/smoky on top of spicy/smoky. If you want to counterbalance the chipotle sauce, try sour cream on its own. I also added quick pickled red onions and jalapeños (to take the spice down, just pickle the onions). 

The Sides: 

I used our CSA corn and made Mexican Sweet Corn Cake (find the recipe I used here). I had to go to a few different stores to find masa, the very fine, dried, powdered corn used to make corn tortillas. I only used a small amount for the corn cake, so I'm excited to use the rest to make homemade corn tortillas! I also served the tacos with homemade beans. Oh. My. Word. These beans need their own post so come back tomorrow for the recipe! 

Adobo Chipotle Chicken Tacos

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 lb. ground chicken

1 white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

pinch ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons pureed chipotles in adobo

1 tsp. agave

1 lime

For serving: white corn taco shells (heat and char in a skillet)

pickled jalapeño and red onion

chipotle crema

cilantro

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet and brown the ground chicken (3-4 minutes). Add onion, coriander, cumin and cinnamon, and stir. Add chicken stock, chipotle puree and agave. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Add a squeeze of lime before serving. 

Chipotle Crema

Ingredients

Sour cream

Pureed chipotles in adobo

Directions

Scoop out as much sour cream as desired into a small bowl. Add a very small amount of chipotle puree and mix. Add more chipotle puree to taste. 

Quick Pickled Jalapeño and Red Onion

Ingredients

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon agave

salt and pepper

half red onion

1 jalapeño 

Directions

In a medium bowl, whisk together red wine vinegar, olive oil, and agave. Season with salt and pepper, Add half a red onion and one chopped jalapeño. Let sit, stirring occasionally to mix.