Chipotle Braised Chicken Tacos Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the chicken, honey, onion and garlic powders, cumin, salt and chipotle chiles and adobo sauce in a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker. Stir well. Cook for at least 3 hours and up to 5 hours on low. If it's more convenient, you can let the slow cooker switch to warm after 5 hours. The dish will hold on warm for about another 3 hours before the chicken starts to become quite dry.
• Using two forks, coarsely shred the chicken in the sauce. Stir in the black beans and lime juice. Cover and let the beans warm through, about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt or lime juice if necessary. Serve in tortillas with pickled onion and avocado.

Steps:

• Put chicken thighs in a saucepan and cover with 3 cups water. Add scallions, bay leaf, thyme, peppercorns, allspice, cloves and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Simmer for 30 minutes, then remove chicken and cool. Shred chicken with your fingers, discarding chicken skin and bone. Strain broth and reserve. You should have about 2 cups shredded chicken.
• Put olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add diced yellow onion, season with salt and cook until softened and a bit browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cumin and cook for 1 minute more. Add chopped chipotle chile and adobo sauce and stir to combine. Add shredded chicken, salt lightly and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, until sauce has thickened somewhat. Keep warm.
• Heat the tortillas over steam or by your favorite method, keeping them soft and pliable.
• Build the tacos quickly: Put a spoonful of the saucy chicken in the center of each tortilla. Top with a teaspoon of chopped white onion, a few slivers of serrano chile, some radish and avocado slices, a teaspoon of queso fresco and a teaspoon of crème fraîche. Add a few cilantro springs and a small pinch of oregano. Serve immediately with lime wedges on the side.

Steps:

• Combine the bread and egg in a large bowl; add 1 tablespoon water and mash with a potato masher or fork to make a paste. Add half each of the onion and garlic, then add the cilantro, chicken, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; mix with your hands until just combined. Brush a large baking sheet with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Shape the meat mixture into 12 meatballs and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 475 degrees F. Combine the remaining onion and garlic, the jalapeno, chipotle, tomatoes, thyme and cinnamon in a blender; pulse until smooth. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Pour in the tomato puree, then add the bay leaves and cook until the sauce thickens, about 6 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups water, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 more minutes; season with salt. Bake the meatballs until they just start to brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer to the sauce and gently simmer, spooning the sauce over the meatballs, until cooked through, about 7 minutes. (Add a few tablespoons of water if the sauce gets too thick.) Remove the bay leaves. Cut the meatballs in half and serve in taco shells with assorted toppings. Photograph by Andrew Purcell

Steps:

• Cook onion, garlic, and bay leaf in butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil with 1/8 teaspoon salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Pat chicken dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Brown chicken in remaining tablespoon oil in 2 batches, 5 to 6 minutes per batch, transferring to a plate as browned.
• Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then stir in chile powder and onion mixture and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in water and bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits.
• Add chicken and cook, covered, over low heat, turning chicken once, until just cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer chicken and onions with a slotted spoon to a platter. Skim off and discard fat from sauce, then boil until slightly thickened. Stir in lime juice and cilantro and spoon sauce over chicken.

Steps:

• Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag; add chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and 1/2 of the beer. Squeeze out excess air and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator, at least 1 hour.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; pour chicken and marinade into the hot oil. Cook and stir, adding the remaining beer, until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 20 to 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
• Shred chicken in the skillet using 2 forks and serve in corn tortillas.