You know, I’ve been here on this site for a while, but I’ve been too busy with Culinary School, and work, not to mention the fact that I haven’t really had anything to write that I have been kinda absent on here. Well, no longer! Following is my adapted recipe from my final buffet, and a couple weeks earlier, to which this was a big hit. Now, I honestly don’t expect you to have fatback or pork butt handy to make this as I did in class, there are some good substitutes. And, as always, follow Josh’s #1 Rule: Always go with your gut, it probably knows more than you do.
Prep Time: ‘Bout a half an hour or so
Makes around 9 Servings (trust me, these will be going fast)
Cook Time: 45min to 1 hour
Equipment needed: Food Processor, Chef Knife, Muffin Tins, Oil for Tins, Plastic wrap, tin foil, bowls.
Ingredients:
- 1 Poblano Pepper
- 2 Chickens, fryers (or if you don’t know how to break down and de-bone a chicken, about 2 pounds of chicken - try for a good mix of white/dark)
- 1/2 Shallot
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 Onion
- 8oz of Tequila
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro
- Cumin
- Chili Powder
- Salt & Pepper
- 1/2 Lime
- Tobasco
- 1 Jalapeño
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup of Breadcrumbs, soaked in a bit of milk (whole, preferably)
Sauce
- 2 Cups Mayo
- Other half of lime
- Whatever poblano is left over
- Some of that Cilantro
- Salt and pepper
Method: First, roast that Poblano on the grill, turning it every so often so the outside is all black. Wrap that sucker in plastic wrap and set that aside for a bit.
Break down and debone those chickens. It’s not as hard as you would think, but if you are (understandably) shaky on it, just get 2lbs of boneless chicken bits and cut them up in smallish chunks. Doesn’t have to be pretty, so go to town.
Dice up and mangle the shallot, garlic, jalapeño and onion. Saute them briefly in oil or butter, until the onion and shallots are transparent. If they go brown, don’t cry over it. Remove and reserve.
Into the chicken bits (which I hope you’ve been keeping cold), toss in a good bit of cumin, salt and pepper, chili powder, tequila and the juice from half the lime (the other half will go for the sauce). Chop up some fresh cilantro (about half the bunch) and toss that in there too. Let it sit a bit to marinade. After the above mention saute’d stuff has cooled down a bit, toss that in there too. Now, toss that whole mess into a food processor (well, you might have to do it in batches, but you get the idea), and grind that up. Be careful that you don’t pureé it (I would just pulse it rather than keep it going, but that’s me).
Once that’s all done, toss in the three eggs and bread crumbs. Mix with your hands and don’t worry about the very nice feeling of that between your fingers. Okay! you are almost there. If you are kind of wondering if this is gonna be good, take a small bit of it, form a small patty, and fry it up in a pan with some oil. Shouldn’t take too long, and you can add to the mix what it needs.
Now, take that poblano out of the plastic wrap, and clean/scrape all that black stuff off and dice that up (you can leave the seeds out if you want, I usually do).
All set? Sweet! Now fill up the muffin tins with the mix, poking a hole in it, not too deep and put some of that poblano in and close it up. Bake in the oven for about an hour at 350°. The inside temp needs to be at 165° - no exceptions! While that’s cooking, you can make the sauce!
Sauce is easy. Combine all the ingredients and whiz til smooth. Taste and adjust. Should be cool and fresh with just a bit of heat on the back end.
Once done, place two on a plate, spoon on the sauce and garnish with a bit of cilantro.
