Eat Some Wear Some
For the past few weeks I have been a part time nurse for my mom who had knee replacement surgery. My very taxing nurse duties have included such things as binging on the Netflix Chefs Table series (which I highly recommend), playing a lot of backgammon, basically being a couch potato you know for moral support. Pretty tough work. One of our favorite guilty pleasures has been tuning into watch Ina every afternoon and discussing what I should make for my next post.
This past Wednesday Ina was making a really tasty looking tequila lime chicken recipe for Jeffrey (yes, I feel that i am on a first name basis at this point in my relationship with the Gartens). Also on Wednesday was my Moms first outing into the real world. Where to? you might ask…a tequila tasting! (I hope her doctor isn’t reading this right now or I might lose my nursing license as I have already broken his rule of not letting her take the subway to physical therapy).
The tasting was at my alma mater, the Institute of Culinary Education, which has new digs downtown and they are friggin sweet. We were going to this tasting because my Mom gave it as a birthday present to the hubs Chris – but lucky for the rest of us we got to join in the fun. I was a little wary when I saw that the class was 6:30-9:30, I mean 3 hours of tequila seems a bit excessive especially since I don’t really drink the stuff – I was practically drunk as soon as I walked in just from the smell. And then I saw the line up of 15 bottles that we were to try and accepted the fact that I would be on the floor by the end of it.
Buuuuuut, it was fantastic. The instructor was a wealth of knowledge and fun facts about pretty much everything alcohol related.  And while I may not be sipping tequila on the rocks any time soon, I loved learning the history, science, and process of making tequila.
So. Back to the recipe. My Mom suggested we try Ina’s recipe and I thought of the taco part because tacos make everything more fun. And just now looking at the marinade ingredients below I am realizing that I am basically telling you to dunk your chicken in your margarita. Ha that sounds kind of gross but trust me it is deeeeelish.
Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos
Serves:
4-6 servings
Ingredients
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
for the marinade:
2 cups lime juice
1 cup tequila
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2-3 jalapeños, seeds removed
1 tbl kosher salt
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp black pepper
for the tacos:
8-10 small tortillas
avocado
pickled onion
tomatillo salsa
Preparation
Combine the marinade ingredients in a large ziploc bag, add the chicken and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
Preheat and lightly oil your grill or a large sauté pan. Remove the chicken from the marinade, making sure no garlic or jalapeños are stuck to it. Grill or sauté over med-high heat until nicely charred and cooked through.
Let the chicken cool slightly while you assemble your taco toppings then slice the chicken into thin strips. Assemble tacos or let others make their own.