A Little Mexican Flavour

One of the first things I do when I wake up in the morning is decide what I will be making for dinner that night.  First, I look in the fridge or freezer to see what I already have at home.  If I'm lucky, I'll have all the ingredients on hand (which is usually not the case).  Yesterday's freezer contents were 2 whole chickens, ground beef, assorted fish, hamburgers and chicken breasts.  I decided to make something with one of the chickens.  But what would I make?  A stew? Roasted chicken?  And then it came to me, chicken tacos!  I love Mexican food and my favourite Mexican restaurants are those teeny tiny ones, that have just a few tables, if none at all.  I find the food at those restaurants, by far, have the most authentic Mexican flavour.  Less is more.  The simplest, freshest ingredients make for the best tacos - nothing too fancy.

I allowed the 3-4 pound chicken to defrost, chopped it up, then boiled it for approximately 30 minutes.  Once cooled, I shredded the entire chicken.  It gave me approx. 5 cups of shredded chicken.

I chopped an onion & garlic and sauteed in vegetable oil until golden.

I added shredded chicken, salt, pepper, oregano, ground cumin, cinnamon and cloves.  After some research, I found that these ingredients are key to making "authentic" chicken tacos.  However, it still didn't have the distinct taste I was looking for.  I added some chili powder, chopped cilantro and a cup of the chicken broth that was left over from boiling the chicken.  Without the broth, the chicken would have been too dry.   Now, it was perfect! 

Some of the taco toppings - freshly grated white cheddar, iceberg lettuce, homemade salsa and sour cream

Homemade salsa - chopped onion, garlic, tomatoes, avocado and cilantro, along with lime juice, salt and pepper.

Here it is on a plate.  The taco shells are Mexican corn tortillas.  They come refrigerated...all I had to do was warm them up in the oven.  I made some rice to serve on the side, it was boiled in the strained, leftover chicken broth.   Nothing goes to waste in this kitchen!

I hope I have inspired you to make something different with your chicken. The tacos were delicious and hubby and girls loved them.  I will definitely be making these again in the future.  Thanks for stopping in!  It has been raining here for most of the day.  Waiting for hubby to get home, so we can have dinner together.  Have a good evening everyone! xo