Life in a Singleton’s Flat, Fast Food and Mexican Chicken, Tomato and Chilli Wraps

Life in a Singleton’s Flat,

Fast Food

and

Mexican Chicken, Tomato and Chilli Wraps

It’s fun staying with my daughter in her flat ~ all her flatmates are “singletons” in the manner of Bridget Jones and they all have different jobs that require attending work at different times of the day and night, so it is a vibrant and haphazard atmosphere with the odd pizza delivery now and then! I have to say that this “laissez-faire” attitude is quite liberating ~ I have embraced the fast food deliveries with zeal and feel that I have been liberated from the constraints of the daily kitchen……..which, is not the best plan for someone who writes a food blog! However, a shopping trip has been planned for today and I am going to cook one of my daughter’s favourite meals, Mexican Chicken, Tomato and Chilli Wraps with Chipotle Sour Cream.

This tasty recipe is footloose and fancy free ~ a fast stir fried filling that is healthy and with a big kick……self assembly is all that is required after all of the components have been prepared and cooked, and there is the extra spiciness of a cheeky little chipotle chilli sour cream sauce.

This really is quite authentic Mexican grub insofar that I have used Epazote as the herbal seasoning; also called wormseed, Jesuit’s tea, Mexican tea or Paico, it is an herb native to Central America, South America, and southern Mexico. When used as a fresh herb it has a flavour similar to tarragon, fennel or anise. I was sent some dried epazote from a friend in New Mexico and although the dried herb is not as pungent as fresh epazote, it still adds an authentic flavour to a Mexican dish.

I realise that most of my British and European readers will not have access to this herb, but a smidgen of dried tarragon gives a similar flavour, but JUST a wee bit as it is a very pungent herb. The cooling sour cream sauce also has an added fiery kick, I add half of a chipotle chilli for a smoky flavour; chipotle chillies are essentially smoke dried jalapeño chillies and the ones I use come packed in adobo ~ a sauce made to preserve the chillies and to enhance their flavour. I adore the smoky chilli flavour that they impart and the sour cream cuts through the spiciness for a strangely hot~cold taste experience.

I serve these wraps with some peppery rocket leaves and that is all that is needed for a speedy supper, and one that is perfect for a flat full of young professionals. Cheaper and faster than a pizza to be delivered, alternative chilli suggestions for those who cannot access chipotle chillies would be pimenton (smoked paprika) or normal chilli powder. I also add a teaspoon of dried cumin to the mixture for a warm, earthy flavour.

Make sure that the wok or frying pan is hot when you add the filling ingredients, I like to have some charred edges to the onions and tomatoes when I cook this. I pan fry my wraps first of all and then keep them all warm wrapped in tinfoil and in a low oven, this helps to stop the “wrap heating panic” after the filling has been cooked! Serve a big salad alongside for a more complete meal, and a few chilled beers would not go amiss either. The serving sizes can be adjusted from solo diner to a whole flat full of people ~ the recipe below is for 4 people with 2 wraps each, for a fairly substantial meal and not a snack.

That’s all for today, tomorrow I am at Vanessa’s big Let’s Make Christmas Food Blogger Swap at Fortnum and Mason………………

………and I will be posting about that no doubt over the weekend……..see you later, bye for now,

Karen

Mexican Chicken, Tomato 

and Chilli Wraps

(Serves 4 people as a main meal)

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 chicken breasts, boned, skinned and diced (Or 8 chicken thighs)

4 large firm tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 large onions, peeled and cut into quarters

4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced

1 teaspoon dried epazote, or 1/8 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/4 teaspoon dried chipotle chilli powder, or normal chilli powder

1 teaspoon dried cumin powder

salt and pepper

8 tortilla wraps

8 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 chipotle chilli in adobo, finely diced

rocket leaves, to serve

METHOD:

Heat up a large frying pan and spray with a little oil, add the tortilla wraps one by one and heat them up. As soon as one wrap is done, take it out and add another one, keeping the cooked ones warm under tinfoil and in a low oven. Keep them all warm in the oven until they are needed.

Heat the oil over a medium to high heat in a large frying pan or wok and add the chicken pieces and onions; stir fry until they are just starting to change colour and then add the garlic and tomatoes ~ continue to cook over a fairly high heat until the chicken is cooked and the tomatoes are releasing their juices. Add the epazote, salt and pepper to taste, chilli powder and cumin and continue to stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.

Whilst the filling is cooking, mix the diced chipotle chilli with the sour cream and set to one side.

To serve: Put the chicken filling in to a large serving bowl next to the foil wrapped tortilla wraps, a bowl of rocket leaves and the chilli sour cream sauce. Allow everyone to help themselves, putting some leaves in a wrap, and then the filling and the sauce, fold the wraps around the filling and eat straight away the messy way with fingers (and lots of napkins), or the posh way with a knife and fork!