Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 (27 page)

4 to 5 pound whole roasting
chicken
2 tablespoons butter, melted
16 cups (1 gallon) water
1 medium Spanish onion, diced
(2 cups)
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
(I cup)
2 medium carrots, diced
(1 cup)
2 Anaheim peppers, diced
(¾ cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
(I tablespoon)
4 6-inch yellow corn tortillas, diced
(I ½ cups)

juice of 2 large limes
(3 tablespoons)
I tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh
cilantro

TORTILLA STRIPS

2 cups vegetable oil
6 6-inch yellow corn tortillas
1 teaspoon chili powder
I teaspoon paprika
¾ teaspoon ground cayenne
pepper
½ teaspoon salt

GARNISH

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
cheese
2 avocados, diced

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Rub the chicken with melted butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper Place your clucker breast-side-up on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast chicken for 70 to 90 minutes or until the temperature in the center of the breast is 160 degrees. Remove chicken from the oven to cool, but don’t get rid of the drippings in the roasting pan.

3. When chicken has cooled enough to handle, tear the meat off the bone. Throw away the skin, but keep all the bones. Add the bones to 16 cups of water in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a rapid simmer and find something to keep you busy for 30 minutes. This is a good time to finish chopping the veggies.

4. Spoon a tablespoon of fat from the roasting pan into a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, saute onion, peppers, carrot and garlic for 10 minutes over medium/low heat.

5. After 30 to 45 minutes of simmering, remove chicken bones from the water, and add the sautéed vegetables, plus the chicken meat, lime juice, salt, chili powder and cayenne pepper. Simmer soup for I hour, adding the cilantro to the pot about 30 minutes in.

6. As your soup simmers, heat up 2 cups of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan. Make your spicy tortilla strips by cutting a pile of 6 small corn tortillas in half. Slice the stacks into ¼-inch strips. Test the oil by dropping in one strip. If it bubbles rapidly, it’s hot enough. Wait 4 minutes, then take out the sample and make sure it’s crunchy. If your oil is ready, fry half of the strips at a time for 4 to 5 minutes or until they all come out crispy. Drain on paper towels. Combine the seasonings for the strips (chili powder, paprika, cayenne and salt) in a small bowl. Toss the tortilla strips with the seasoning in a large bowl until the strips are coated.

7. Serve each bowl of soup topped with a couple tablespoons of shredded Jack cheese, a couple tablespoons of diced avocado (one-quarter of an avocado), and handful of tortilla strips on top.

TERIYAKI SAUCE

1¾ cups water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup canned pineapple chunks
(chunks sliced into quarters)
¼ cup juice from can of pineapple
chunks
½ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

12 chicken tenderloins
12 7-inch flour tortillas
2 cups shredded Monterey Jock
cheese
4 cups iceberg lettuce, chopped
very thin or shredded
1½ cups canned pineapple
chunks, (chunks sliced into
quarters)
1½ cups diced tomatoes (about
2 medium tomatoes)
½ cup chopped green onion
(green part only)

1. Make the teriyaki sauce by whisking cornstarch into the water in a medium saucepan. Add remaining ingredients, then bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes or until thicker. Let sauce cool before you use it for marinating.

2. When the sauce is cool, measure out I cup of sauce and set it aside. Use the remaining sauce to pour over chicken tenders in a medium bowl, Cover chicken and let it marinate for at least 6 hours. Overnight is even better.

3. When chicken has marinated, preheat a large skillet over medium/low heat. Wipe the pan with a little oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade (and toss out the marinade) and saute chicken in the pan for 8 to 10 or until chicken is cooked through and browned on both sides. Slice each chicken filet into 3 or 4 pieces and spoon all the chicken into a medium bowl. Microwave the leftover I cup of teriyaki sauce in the oven for 30 to 60 seconds or until it’s hot. Pour the sauce over the sliced chicken in the bowl.

4. When you’re ready to build the tacos, preheat another skillet over medium heat. Toss a tortilla into the pan for a minute, then flip it over and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of shredded cheese across the center of the tortilla. Let the tortilla sit in the pan for about a minute or so (until the cheese starts melting) then remove the tortilla and immediately spoon the equivalent of one chicken tender into the tortilla (3 or 4 chunks of chicken). Spoon about 1½ tablespoons teriyaki sauce from the cooked chicken bowl over the chicken in each taco.

5. Arrange about
cup shredded lettuce over the chicken in each taco. Follow that up with 1 to 2 tablespoons of pineapple chunks, 1 to 2 tablespoons diced tomato, and a couple pinches of chopped green onion. Repeat process for remaining tacos. The restaurant serves 3 tacos with each order.