Chicken Flautus & Margaritas

Ok. So it’s nearly 9 years since Roz and I met and I thought it would be a good trip down memory lane to remake the first meal that I cooked for her. Funnily enough we were in Paris, staying at a friend’s place and instead of making something French I decided to impress her with Mexican. (My food senses were much more naive then). 

In the rehashing of things past, I add something fresh – we were lucky enough to be given lots of fresh vegetables and fruit from a friend, (thanks Nasty) fresh from his garden.

Chicken Flautus

2 Chicken Breasts

80g Feta (I used Danish)

12 Corn tortillas (you can use flour tortillas if you can’t find corn)

1 Brown onion

1/2 Red onion

4 Tomatoes

3 Chillies (I used different types)

1 Bunch of Coriander chopped

1 Lime juiced

1 yellow zucchini

1 green zucchini

1 dash of Tequila

Peas

Firstly, I cooked the chicken in a water bath until it is fully cooked, but still moist inside and not dried out. After letting it cool a bit, I shredded the chicken until fine (Archie also manage to get some shredded chicken for his dinner). Then I browned the diced brown onion in a pan and mixed it with the chicken and crumbled feta in a bowl until it was consistent. Season.

The zucchinis were sliced using a large peeler into long lengths (they don’t need to be cooked) and mixed in a bowl with the dash of tequila, 1/3 of the lime juice and a small handful of coriander. Set aside so that the lime juice softens the zucchinis (about 10mins).

To make the salsa I diced the tomatoes into a bowl and mixed with the red onion that was finely chopped. Add the chopped chillies, rest of the lime juice and coriander and season.

Heat the tortillas in the microwave for 30 sec to make them soft. Spoon a mixture of the chicken onto the tortilla at one end and roll them up. Once they are all filled, either deep or shallow fry for 1-2 mins each until the tortilla is a light brown, as it takes a few batches I leave the tortillas in the oven on 60degC just to stay warm. Cook the peas. Then serve. Either all together on one plate in the middle of the table or individually.

I also decided that an excellent accompaniment to a great Spanish meal is a Margarita. I love the ones I make (no ice) and it’s quite often a hit or miss when you go out. The closest we have found to the ones we make at home were sitting in Miami at a bar near the beach (perhaps that’s a story for another time).

Margarita

1 ½ shots of tequila

1 shot of Cointreau

1 shot of Cachaca

Squeeze of fresh lime, salt

Cut a lime in half and rub it around the top of a glass, dip in salt until the ring of the glass is coated – don’t make it too thick. Put the tequila, Cointreau and Cachaca into a shaker over ice. Pour over a slice of lime in the glass. Drink with pleasure and keep them coming.