Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Acapulco Chicken, my version

I live in a small town, and the nearest big city with a variety of Mexican restaurants is 60 miles away.    I  miss having the ability to just jump in the car and drive a few miles to get to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, but I've managed to compensate. 

I now make most of the dishes we used to order there, and in fact this recipe is one of my all time favorites.      El Rancho Grande called this Acapulco Chicken, and while it's not exactly like the one I order there, it's pretty darn close.     I've really worked on trying to get it right, and I would have to say, it is good. 

Acapulco Chicken
To start with you need to marinate some boneless, skinless chicken breasts.    I cut the chicken breasts into cutlets while they're still frozen as they are much easier to cut that way.

  I then use a packaged marinade mix, McCormick Meat Marinade .   I just add some oil, water and cider vinegar to it, make a slurry out of it and pour it over the chicken breast.

While the chicken is marinating, make some Pico de Gallo.   You use some of the Pico de Gallo to finish off the chicken with as well as serving the salsa with the meal.

Seed a couple of jalapeno's, removing membrane and dicing them.   Always, always, always use gloves, as you can see from my stylish blue glove here.   Chop a couple of Roma Tomato's, a white onion, add a  good squeeze of lime juice, some cilantro, cover and let sit.

Chopping Jalapeno's

Chopping Jalapeno's

Chopping Jalapeno's





Pico de Gallo

Cilantro

Take the chicken out of the fridge and cut into bite size pieces while the pan is heating up.   You can't cook all the chicken at once, you'll need to do just a little at a time. 
Heat a little oil in a cast iron pan, until it's almost smoking, throw in a good handful of the chicken pieces, you don't want to crowd the pan.
Sauteeing Marinated Chicken

Let it sit for a couple of minutes, then give it a stir and turn the chicken pieces over.    Remove to a separate pan while you are cooking the rest.    Make sure the pan is really hot, add a little more oil, put the cooked chicken back in the pan, then dump in a cup or so of the Pico de Gallo, and let it cook down a bit.
Chicken with Pico de Gallo

(You may have noticed I swapped pans here, but that's because, I ummm, got my cast iron pan too hot, and it burnt some of the Pico de Gallo and trust me on this, it don't taste good when it's burnt.)
  As soon as all the moisture is gone,  top the chicken with a cup or two of shredded cheddar or a mixture of cheddar and monterey jack cheese and turn off the heat.  And put a lid on top of the pan to retain the heat.  Helps the cheese melt as well.
Acapulco Chicken with Cheese

  Let sit for a minute or so, so that the cheese melts down into the chicken and then serve it.   Have some warmed flour tortillas, a little cheese, lettuce and the Pico de Gallo and even some guacamole on the table.
Acapulco Chicken

You just roll some of the chicken and the toppings into the tortilla, burrito style and enjoy.
Serve some refried beans and mexican rice on the side as well.      Now please excuse me, but it's time to eat. 
Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the nice comments. I've signed up on your site, and look forward to exploring it a little more.

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  2. I made this a few days ago and YUM! My husband loved it too!

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  3. Thank you for the kind comments. Glad you liked it.

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