I’m a sucker for food magazines. I subscribe to a few (to say the least) and I love sitting down on a cold or rainy day and reading every magazine from start to finish. I try to imagine what each recipe would taste like and how I could make it my own.
When the recipe is accompanied by a picture and the picture is a taco, I’m usually pretty much sold. Accompany the taco picture with the word Adobo and I’m on my way to the stove to start cooking!
This is my first stab at this recipe, so don’t judge it by its (not so great) picture!
I cannot remember where I found this recipe, but it is from Rick Bayless and it is amazing! Here is my slightly revised version:
- 1 head of garlic, separated into individual cloves, skins still on
- 5 serrano chilies, stems removed
- 1 fresno chili, stem removed
- 2 cups loosely packed cilantro
- 2 cups loosely packed flat leaf parsley
- 1 medium (white) onion diced
- 1 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Taco shells (flour or corn) - your choice!
Roast the Chilies and Garlic. Heat a dry pan on medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and all of the chilies. Cook until soft and browned in spots (turning occasionally). The chilies will take approximately 10 minutes to cook, the garlic about 15. Once browned, removed and let cool. Remove the skins of the garlic. Chop the chilies into smaller pieces.
Make the Adobo. Combine the cilantro, parsley, chilies, garlic, 2 teaspoons of salt and olive oil in the blender. Puree until smooth. You may need to scrape the sides of the blender several times.
Cook the Chicken. Pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken. Heat a sauce pan on medium high heat. Add two tablespoons of canola oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the chicken. Cook the chicken until brown on one side; about 4-5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook it on the reverse side until brown; another 4-5 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, add the onions to the open space in the pan. Once the chicken has browned on both sides, remove it from the pan and let the onions continue cook until caramelized; another 2-3 minutes.
After removing the chicken from the pan, slice the chicken into ¼ slices. When the onions have finished caramelizing, add the chicken back to the pan with about ½ of the Adobo mixture. Mix well and continue to cook the chicken until cooked through. Add additional salt if needed.
How to Serve. Wrap your taco shells in two wet paper towels. Place the shells/paper towels in an open plastic bag and heat them in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Rick Bayless recommended this method and the shells (I used flour) turned out perfectly!
Serve the tacos with extra chopped cilantro, diced white onion and your favorite crumbled mexican cheese.
Leftovers? I made 4 chicken breasts with this recipe and had plenty left over. The next day, I made nachos with the left overs. I placed the chicken on top of a layer of tortilla chips, added some of the extra Adobo and then added a ton of shredded cheddar cheese (I like cheddar over the mexican cheese). Heat this in a 400 degree oven until the cheese is melted. When you remove the nachos from the oven, add additional cilantro, onion (I used green onion with the nachos), and chopped jalepenos.
Enjoy!