Category: Crunchy’s Cookbook

Tacos el Carbon: Lunch Solved

1 Comment

It’s 7 am and you are standing in front of the fridge, feeling underwhelmed about your lunch options. Left overs? Meh; too much gravy. Sam’ich? Meh; too boring. That sad looking prepackaged salad you stock for lunches? Meh; you’re always still hungry after. Cup o’noodles? Eww; icky, bloated, sodium-belly. What you need is something you can make quickly, cheaply, is fairly healthy, and well, good enough to eat on purpose!

Enter the street taco. Traditionally it’s a Taco el Carbon, which loosely translates to ‘grilled over an open coal flame,’ but lots of food trucks and Mexican caterers sell these without the fuss of flame grilling. I’ll show you how to make this in a way that will have you out the door in 10 minutes with a lunch that packs up well, comes together when it’s time to eat so it tastes freshly prepped, and will save you from carrying around sad taste buds all afternoon. You’re welcome.

Tacos el Carbon

Ingredients:

Preparation:

  • Prepare your poached chicken.
  • When the chicken is ready, dice the small onion and chicken. If you have the time, I think shredded chicken tastes a little better, but dicing is traditional and faster.
  • Roughly chop or tear some cilantro, ‘to taste,’ which is jargon for ‘use as much or as little as you like.’
  • Combine all the ingredients into a tupperware and seal.
  • Over an open flame, lightly grill your corn tortillas. I like mine with just a few minor char spots, but don’t over do it. You want the tortilla to stay soft and pliable.
  • When your stack of tortillas is done, roll them loosely and pop into a plastic sandwich bag. The steam will keep them soft.

When you are ready to eat, you really don’t need to re-heat anything. Just sprinkle the mixture into each tortilla and keep your moans of pleasure down so you don’t get any co-workers asking for sharzies. If you are a fan of taking checks with your mouth that your stomach can’t cash, make a batch of this Salsa Roja as a garnish. 

Nom your non-tragic-lunch-at-your-desk on,

~Crunchy

Baked BBQ Chicken: Chicken-lickin’ good

Leave a comment

I thought for my first post I would share a great recipe for baked ‘BBQ’ chicken. I found this simple approach to getting the sticky, gooey mess I love about BBQ food without the fuss of a grill. I hope you enjoy it!

Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients

  • Chicken Legs or Thighs (the bone-in, dark meat is juicer than boneless chicken breast.)
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Sweet Heat BBQ sauce 

Preparation

  • Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
  • Lay out ckicken on a rimmed, foil covered baking sheet
    • Brush meat with olive oil all over
    • Sprinkle salt and pepper all over
    • Set timer and bake for 20 minutes
  • Pull Chicken from oven
    • Brush chicken all over with BBQ sauce and bake for 7 minutes
    • Repeat once more and check internal temperature. If you have reached 160 degrees, allow chicken to rest
    • If needed, brush chicken with sauce once more and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes
  • For the final round of baking, check the chicken’s temperature to be sure it hasn’t already passed 160°F. If your chicken often turns out dry or chewy, you’re overcooking it. Remember, meat continues to cook after it’s removed from the oven. That’s why recipes tell you to let it “rest”—the internal heat finishes the job.
    In our world of paranoia about bacteria and food poisoning, it’s tempting to overcook meat. But the truth is, overcooked meat tastes terrible. 165°F is all you need. Respect the internal temperature, and let the meat rest.

If you don’t feel like making a big meal, these are delightful to eat with a loaf of fresh bread.

Nom on,

~Crunchy