Last weekend, Scotty and I went to a Mexican restaurant here in Sydney. The food was great but we came out of the meal $50 lighter per person and thought… for that kind of money, we could totally do that ourselves!
As a result, this week I sourced a tortilla press and the masa flour online from Fireworks Foods here in Sydney and it all arrived on Thursday afternoon, ready for weekend taco making.
Scotty and I love making tacos (see Fiesta Mexicana) but we have never tried making the tortillas. The thought of being that authentic made me excited, so yesterday morning while Scotty went off to run errands, I headed to our favourite local growers market to source avocados, corn, chilli, coriander, red onion and all the other bits and bobs needed for my chilli chicken tacos with guacamole and corn salsa.
Upon return, I prepped the chicken marinade and popped it in the fridge then got to work on the guacamole and corn salsa. following that, I pulled together the tortilla dough and set it aside to rest before I got to work pressing it out in preparation for finishing off in the pan.
It wasn’t till I began cooking the tortillas that I realised they were all a little too thick which resulted in slightly doughy tortillas. So I experimented a little by rolling them out a little more with a rolling pin after pressing them. That seemed to work much better. Next time I might try a different dough recipe and also employ the press then pin system – it seems like a lot of work but yields the best results in the end.
The chilli chicken was shredded after cooking and it had a wonderful flavour with a good bite of heat. Together with the guac and salsa, which I have been making for a few years now to rave reviews, all the flavours of the tacos were bang on.
I just need to perfect the tortillas now – but hey, we can all be perfect first time, every time (can we?)!
CHILLI CHICKEN TACOS – COMPONENTS
CHILLI CHICKEN
4 Chicken thighs, in strips
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp Mexican chilli powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
Place chicken in a bowl and lemon, 1 tbsp oil, chilli powder, garlic powder and dried chilli. Let marinate for at least 1 hour.
In a large frypan, heat remaining oil and fry onion and fresh chilli until onion has softened. Add chicken and marinade and fry until chicken is cooked through. Remove mixture and shred with fork.
GUACAMOLE
2 ripe avocados
1/2 large red chilli, finely chopped
Handful coriander, finely chopped
1/4 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
Splash of Cholula hot sauce
Salt & pepper
Remove the flesh from the avocado, place in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork. Add chilli, onion, coriander and mix well. Add lime, hot sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
CORN SALSA
2 ears of sweet corn, husk on
1/2 avocado, flesh cut in squares
Handful coriander, finely chopped
1 tomato, deseeded and chopped finely
1/2 large red chilli, finely chopped
1/4 Spanish onion, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 lime
Salt and pepper
Place corn in the microwave with the husks on and cook on high allowing 3 minutes for each ear of corn (3 ears of corn = 9 minutes).
Remove corn from the microwave and leave to cool. Once cool, cut off cooked corn kernals and put in a large bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, stirring till well combined.
FRESH TORTILLAS (recipe from Gourmet Traveller)
2 cups masa flour
250ml warm water
Salt
Place flour in a bowl with a pinch of salt, then add 250ml warm water. Mix together with your hands till it comes together in a soft pliable dough, adding more water or flour if necessary.
Form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and rest for at least 20 minutes. Divid dough into 16 and roll each piece into a ball.
Line a tortilla press with two squared of baking paper, cut to fit. Working with one ball at a time, pres gently but firmly in press to form a thin disc, then set aside on paper.
Heat a dry pan over medium-high heat, peel baking paper from tortilla (be careful it’s fragile) and cook tortilla, turning twice, until browned. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Stack cooked tortillas in a basket lined with a tea towel as you go and rest to steam gently and soften slightly.
CHILLI CHICKEN TACOS – CONSTRUCTION
Chilli Chicken, shredded
guacamole
corn Salsa
sour cream
tortillas
coriander
Place one tortilla on a board, spread guacamole in a line in the middle. Add corn on top, then a little chicken mixture. Pop sour cream on top and another line of chilli chicken mixture and top with coriander.
Repeat and eat!
