Ancho Pepper Chicken Tacos

This recipe is super easy, tasty and you get to use a food processor! I love my food processor, but sometimes forget to use it. That hasn't really been as much of a problem since I started making baby food for LT. I had heard of the technique of rehydrating chili peppers from a teacher that I worked with.
A little back story on this teacher. He is a young enthusiastic Biology teacher at a large high school in West Texas. His students really love and respect him. He honestly is the type of teacher that you enjoy going to his class because you never really know what you are going to learn from day to day. The kids are always on their toes. Especially because he is a bit of a wise ass, has a great repertoire of useless but interesting Biology facts, and is not scared to share even the most private of things. Somethings more useful than others (click the link if you dare).
I learned a lot from him too, not just about Biology but cooking. He is a fantastic Tex Mex cook. All the teachers in the science department ate lunch together in the work room. Most of the teachers brought their left overs from the night before. It was always fun to see what everyone had made the night before, particularly this teacher. His specialty was homemade enchiladas and everyone would be so jealous when he would bring them - total lunch envy. The red sauce for the enchiladas is made by rehydrating and pureeing the peppers then mixing with a small can of tomato sauce.
This recipe is similar in that we will be rehydrating the dried ancho chili peppers to make a sauce.


Ingredients:

2 c. shredded chicken

3 dried ancho peppers

1 c. chicken stock

2 T olive oil

1/2 onion

2 garlic cloves

2 T white wine

2 t cumin

2 t paprika

1/2 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t cinnamon

Please excuse the HEB brand olive oil. I know that I should buy higher quality olive oil but we are in a recession people! At least, that is just what I say when I know I am doing something cheap.
Also excuse the outlet in the background. It will become very important later.

Here is a closer look at the spices that we will be using. Cumin and paprika give the dish a smokey flavor. The cayenne will spice it up, feel free to add more if you want more heat. The cinnamon gives an interesting taste to the dish that is somewhat familiar. I have only recently been adding cinnamon to savory dishes. You can also find it in Chinese five spice and Caribbean jerk seasoning. If you are not a fan of cinnamon in savory dishes, leave it out.

Meet the ancho chili pepper.
Dried chillies are made by the removal of water in the cells of the fruit. Each plant cell has an organelle called a vacuole, which stores water. I know what you are thinking, yes, chillies are a fruit. They have seeds that are spread by birds and are products of the flower's ovary - making them a fruit. Chilies can be dried using different techniques, such as in the sun, smoked, or machine drying.

Remove the stems and seeds from the dried pepper. This was a pretty easy step. The seeds fall right out after you make a cut into the pepper. Make sure that you get all of the hard part from the stem, I don't think that would be very pleasurable to eat.

Place the peppers and chicken stock in a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. The chicken stock will turn a brown color and begin to thicken.
This puree sauce is similar to a Mexican mole sauce in that they are both made of rehydrated dried chilies. The thickening of the sauce is caused by the chemical pectin found in the cell wall of plants along with cellulose. Pectin can be found in a higher quantity in the harder or more sturdy areas of a plant, such as the peel of an orange. Interestingly, pectin is also the chemical responsible for the thickening of fruit to make jelly and jam.


Meanwhile, chop the onion and garlic. It is my dirty kitchen secret that I don't actually chop up the garlic. Yes, I have the garlic press, I have sharp knives, and I even love the crushing of the garlic clove before chopping but I still don't do it. It is just too easy for me to open up a jar of already chopped, diced, or minced garlic resting in your choice of olive oil or extra virgin olive oil. Plus, I saw it on Sandra Lee which means it totally passes the semi-home made test.
I realize that this admission will probably turn some people away, but rest assure that this is not the only faux pas that I will make in the kitchen. If you forgive me, continue reading.

Place the olive oil, onion, and garlic (from jar or stuff you slaved over chopping) into a skillet over medium high heat. Be sure not to burn the garlic. You are really just sweating out the onion. This will take about 5 minutes.

Once the peppers have cooked, transfer them and the cooking liquid to a food processor or blender. See the outlet is now important.

Puree until you have a smooth paste.

Here is a closer look. I am really going to have to clean out this guy before I use it to make baby food - sacrifice for a great dinner!


Once the onions and garlic are soft, deglaze the pan with a couple tablespoons of white wine. Let cook for a minute or too to burn off the alcohol.
I only had chardonnay on hand, which worked fine. Another option would be to deglaze the pan with beer or sherry. I would decide what to use based on what you want to drink with dinner. Therefore, I never cook with sherry.


Add the spices, pepper paste, and chicken to the pan.


Combine all ingredients, if it is too "pasty" add water to the pan. Let simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes to ensure marrying of flavors.

Place in a tortilla and garnish with sour cream, cheese and cilantro leaves. I served these tacos with rice and refried beans as side dishes. The rice and beans found their way into Mr. T's taco, which I guess makes it a burrito?
One more note about the teacher I mentioned above. He was the only teacher friend of mine that didn't tell me he was sad that I was leaving. He was really excited for me to be a stay at home mom. He told me that I would be great at being a mom and knew that was what I should do. I am forever thankful to him.