Editor’s note:
Please welcome our newest contributor to the friendly confines of TacoTown.  Pigpen has graciously opened his family’s culinary vaults to share this recipe for Chicken Enchiladas – you Texan readers may notice that he uses flour tortillas instead of corn- it yields a bigger enchilada- more akin to a smothered burrito…but tasty nonetheless…Onto the recipe >>

Ingredients:

• Your drink of choice! (for you, not the enchiladas)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 ½ cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander
• 1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chiles
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 4 boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and chopped
• ½ cup cilantro
• ½ tablespoon dried cumin
• 1 lime
• Kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Fresh ground black pepper
• Light cream cheese
• 8 flour tortillas

Preparing the Chicken Marinade:
Use a marinade dish for the following items. Roll the lime on kitchen counter to soften; cut in half and squeeze on chicken. Sprinkle kosher salt, cumin, minced garlic, and black pepper over chicken breast (about ½ tablespoon each) and half of the cilantro. Repeat for other side. Cover and place in fridge at least 30 minutes before cooking.  I recommend cooking the chicken over charcoal as it gives the finished product a distinctive flavor that gas cannot duplicate.

Making the Sauce:
Melt butter in saucepan, stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add the chicken broth smoothing the sauce with a wire whisk as you pour and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes until thickened. Stir in coriander and half of the green chiles and simmer. Remember to stir the sauce frequently if you are not using it immediately.

Making the Enchiladas:
In a large mixing bowl combine the chopped chicken, Monterey Jack cheese and remaining green chiles. Spread a little cream cheese on a tortilla and spoon ¼ cup of the chicken mixture into the center of the tortilla. Roll and place seam side down in an ungreased baking dish, repeat until you’re out of chicken!! Pour the sauce over the rolled enchiladas. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese down the center of the enchiladas.

Bake, uncovered at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.  Remove from the oven, plate, and garnish with a dollop of sour cream and maybe a side of rice & beans, a salad, or tequila.  Enjoy!!

I am a sucker for sweet potatoes .. or yams.. or what have u..

Note: we americans use the word “yam” to refer to a sweet, moist, orange-fleshed variety of sweet potato.   To everyone else in the world, a yam is what Americans call a tropical yam , a firm tuber with white flesh.  Varieties of American “yams” (sweet potatoes) include the garnet yam and the jewel yam.

whatever you call them, IMO they should replace the empty starch of white potatoes in our diet entirely.. theyre just the best.. they lend themselves to any dish – savory or sweet, or a little of both, you just can’t go wrong with them.. In particular – I like to use organic Garnet Yams, they have a velvety smooth texture and are a little sweeter than most..

So I have been searching for ways to incorporate them into tacos.. So i came up with this picadillo recipe with ground chicken serving as the meat and a hefty dose of heat thanks to fresh habanero peppers.. Its healthy, hearty, and delicious.  Here is the the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground chicken (i use thigh meat so it stays moist)
• 3 Medium sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs) cut into 1/4 inch cubes
• 3 fresh habanero peppers – deseeded and finely minced
• 1/2 cup of diced yellow bell pepper
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of corriander powder
• 1 packet of Nueva Cocina Picadillo seasoning
• 6oz. Tomato Sauce
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt

Directions:

In a medium skillet on med-high heat, cook your cubed sweet potatoes in olive oil until lightly browned on each side, adding in your curry and corriander along the way..

In a separate pan, begin cooking your ground chicken over medium heat.. When the chicken is white and starting to firm up, add your picadillo seasoning, tomato sauce, yellow peppers, habaneros, and the browned sweet potatoes.

Reduce heat, cover and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes..stir in the yogurt at the end to bring it all together. add salt and pepper to taste..

Serve with fresh avocado slices on a warm tortilla.. enjoy!

First you gotta realize that this thing is a technically a taco..then, come to terms with the fact that it might be the tastiest taco in town.  We are all children of the cone. [mightycone.com]

wait a minute! i just realized that back in 2007 when I wrote about the chicken cones at ACL fest, I entitled my post “The Mighty Chicken Cone” .. did I name the place?

These were very good. Savory and comforting in a very ‘home cooked by your abuelita’ sort of way. Our first trip to the former location of Dona Emilia’s (congress and san jacinto).. Cabeza got a $16 steak for lunch that was aiight.. we got a nice queso appetizer that included carnitas, jalapenos, avacado, and cilantro on the side.. worth a try.

I usually try to take care of my food needs before I hit a festival…if the lines and high prices arent enough, the food quality can be likened to a mall food court (think: $10 stir fry or $8 fajita wraps)..but all my preconceptions changed when I tried the chicken cone from Hudson’s on the Bend at ACL Fest….

Hot and Crunchy fried chicken, wrapped in a tortilla, with a base of jalepeno cole slaw.. and drizzled with a chipotle cream sauce of some sort..all nestled in a paper cone that makes it easy to eat and walk to the next stage… its the best festival food ever.. trust me.. and at only $6, I usually forget all about the music, plant my ass on a picnic table and eat chicken cones till the money runs out.

Location: Arboretum area just West of the Arbor 7 cinema intersecting rice and beans.

This ain’t no roach party, this ain’t no shithole, and these folks definetly ain’t foolin’ around! So I’ve been living in Austin now for 7 years and am dumbfounded at how I’ve walked by this utopia of belly bliss probably well over 30 times after watching a movie and never walked in. All those times I could have left the theater to fill up and refuel after landing my butt in the theater the whole day gone to waste! Well those days are distant memories from now on because I’ve just had an epiphany due to sensory pallette overload! Read the rest of this entry »