Chicken & Chorizo Burritos

One of my main goals for 2009 as far as cooking goes is to expand my skills at both end of the spectrum: hopefully I will cook more elaborate and interesting dishes using unfamiliar techniques and ingredients (the "high end"), but I also want to develop a more diverse repertoire of everyday meals (the "low end"). This dish fall decidedly into the second category, but it's nevertheless tasty as hell and something I'd be happy to serve to any visitors to our house.

Mexican, Tex-Mex and faux-Mex (the category to which this dish belongs) are all favourites at the Palace. I call this faux-Mex because it's derived from no particular recipe and may in fact not be very Mexican at all. I don't really care. Cooking without any recipe is much more satisfying when it works, and I'm more bothered about flavour than culinary authenticity.

I cracked a few cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle, added a bit of cayenne pepper, a touch of turmeric and some salt and pepper, and rubbed two chicken breasts with the spice mix. I then rubbed the breasts with oil and cooked them on the grill bars of the BBQ with the lid closed, turning often. When they were done, I shredded the meat with forks.

I then added the shredded meat to a little chunky salsa thing I had bubbling away on the side burner. Fried a few slices of chorizo, softened half an onion, added about 7 or 8 chunkily chopped tomatoes, a slug of red wine vinegar and some salt. When the chicken was mixed with this 'sauce' the flavours melded beautifully and the chicken sucked up the moisture.

Meanwhile I had roasted a couple of green capsicums and a few green chillies, and Sod took them inside and made this hella flavourful green sauce. It consists of the aforementioned capsicums (capsica?) and chillies, peeled and deseeded, blended up with some coriander leaf and stem, lime juice and salt. I have no idea if this bears any relation to a Mexican salsa verde, but it was the perfect complement to the chicken and chorizo; quite light tasting, but with a citrus tang and slight chilli bite.

We ate these as burritos, with some roasted corn, cheese and sour cream joining the green sauce and chicken and chorizo mix. I could not have been more happy with the results!

4th Jan 2009