Kitchen Hack

Lime-Oregano-Serrano Marinated Grilled Chicken Thighs

This nearly qualifies as a "Cooking for Dudes" entry but breaks the cardinal rule...NO GRILL. So it's a regular entry. That's just the way it's gonna have to be. 

This is, easily, the best thing I've ever created on the grill. By a lot. And it's super simple. 

Behold the ingredient list...

Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
salt and ground black pepper
1 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp dried mexican oregano
1 serrano chile, minced
1 lime, zested and juiced
¼ cup olive oil
¼ bunch cilantro, chopped
⅛ cup cotija cheese, grated
½ lime to drizzle juice over the top before serving

That's it. And listing stuff like salt and pepper and oil shouldn't even count. 

I'm using chicken thighs in this. The thighs have more fat than the breasts and, as a result, more flavor. By virtue of having more fat they also are more forgiving. While it's possible to cook the beejeesus out of the thigh so that it dries out, it's difficult to do. If you're a hardcore conscientious chicken thigh objector, that's cool. Use breasts. You'll have to increase the cooking time and you'll want to move them over indirect heat about halfway in so it doesn't dry out. 

Cooking for Dudes: Chipotle-Lime Chicken with Red Wine Pan Sauce

I'm going to be erratically posting on the topic of Cooking for Dudes. Because I have learned a great truth. Having this blog and posting cooking stuff on Facebook and, maybe most relevant, having been married to Jill, I've learned something that all my male brethren need to internalize...girls like it when you cook for them. And by cook, I mean, NOT GRILLING. I know, I know. We're guys. We like fire. We get all caveman and science geek when we get outside with a hunk of meat and some flame. We drink beer and fart and hang out with other guys while turning a perfectly good hunk of meat into charcoal and then we douse it with some off the shelf sauce and we call it cooking. 

Here's the thing...your wife, your girlfriend, your significant other...she knows you're doing that for you but you just happened to buy so much meat that you can't help but have some leftover for her and the kids. She pretends not to know that. Because she loves you. And that makes her awesome and is why you should stay with her forever. 

Tomate Frito with Yucatán Spiced Chicken

The real thing worth paying attention to here is the sauce, Tomate Frito. It has noting to do with the abomination that is the Frito. Frito, in Spanish, means fried. So when you're eating those chips, you're eating Fried. Which likely makes it the most accurately titled processed food product ever. 'Cause whatever it is, is very much Fried, but there ain't much in the way of actual food in it. 

A classic Tomate Frito is a really versatile thing. Cook it down alot and it's a great sauce for fish, pork or chicken. I use it on omlettes, fried eggs, bacon. Cook it down just a little, add a touch of lime juice, and it's a crazy good salsa. We're going Yucatán-style with this, which means there's gonna be some Habanero going on, but that doesn't mean you gotta be punished by heat. I'll take you through how to get the piquancy of the habanero while controlling the heat to your liking. I've tried a number of versions of this in a quest to make it all chef-y. I've tried some of my own invention and tried out a passel of recipes I've found online. The Yucatecan culture is ancient. It's been doing this for a long time. Not surprisingly, then, the simplest, hardly any ingredients version of the sauce is, hands down, the best. For the simplest, most straight forward version of this sauce, I'd go with the version from Rick Bayless.

In this recipe, I'm putting it on chicken, but we'll also cover how to alter the cooking and ingredients just a little so it functions as a standalone salsa. 

Chorizo & Potato Tacos with Good Stuff

Posted a picture on Facebook and had a few requests for the recipe. Context: I was just using up stuff I had laying around. There wasn't, like, a guiding philosophy. Other than to make it good. I made it for two but have scaled up to make it for 4. I was winging it while I was making it so the measurements aren't exactly precise ('cause if I wanted precision I'd bake something).

It works because of the balance of the flavors. The heaviness of the chorizo and potatoes is offset by the sweet peppery flavor of the mango and the fresh burst from the pickled jalapeño and onions. And cream and feta are just yummy. As with any recipe, don't let it become limiting and do some substituting if you feel like it. Like, if you don't have champagne vinegar, a white or white wine vinegar will work just fine. A red wine or balsamic vinegar might be a little bit much. I had parsley laying around, but cilantro is a better choice. A crumbly Mexican cheese could replace feta. Lime juice or blood orange juice would be great replacements for the lemon. Just go for a balance of body and freshness, heat and sweet. Play around. Have fun.