Sriracha Fried Chicken Tacos

Fried chicken probably doesn’t immediately come to mind when you think of tacos, but it should, because these tacos are amazing. It all starts with the chicken. This chicken is super crisp on the outside and extremely tender on the inside. It’s marinated in buttermilk and Sriracha overnight to ensure it stays juicy when cooked. Before it gets fried, the chicken gets a coating in flour that’s seasoned with garlic and Korean chilli flakes, for a kick of extra heat.

Sounds pretty good so far right?

You could probably stop there and call it a day, but why would you when you can turn it into an amazing taco? To make the taco, the chicken is topped with a bright and citrusy slaw and then garnished with fresh jalapeno and thinly-sliced green onion. The sauce is a spicy crema made with sour cream, Sriracha and soy. All wrapped in a warm corn tortilla. Part of what makes these tacos so amazing is the contrast of textures you get. The chicken is crispy and juicy at the same time. The slaw and jalapenos are refreshing and crisp while the tortilla is soft and warm. It is truly an incredible taco experience.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp Sriracha
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp Korean chilli flakes*
• Canola oil for frying

For the Toppings

• ¼ purple cabbage (shredded)
• 1 lime (juiced)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 jalapeno (thinly sliced)
• 2 green onions (thinly sliced)
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp Sriracha
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Small handful of cilantro
• Corn tortillas
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. The night before you plan to make these, slice the chicken into 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick pieces as if you were making chicken tenders. Place them in a bowl or freezer bag and cover with the buttermilk and Sriracha. It helps if you add the Sriracha to the milk first so it distributes evenly. Cover and keep in fridge to marinate overnight.
2. Thinly shred ¼ of a purple cabbage and dress it with the juice of one lime and sesame oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep in fridge until ready to use.
3. To make the sauce, combine the sour cream with 1 tbsp of Sriracha (feel free to add more if you want it spicier) and the soy sauce. Stir together and keep in fridge until ready to use.
4. To get the chicken ready for frying, heat your oil to 350°F. Remove chicken from fridge and set up a medium bowl with the flour, salt, garlic powder, and chilli flakes. Stir the flour mixture together well. Working one piece at a time, remove the chicken from the buttermilk and place into the flour to fully coat it. Place coated chicken on parchment lined backing sheet until ready to fry.
5. Pre-heat oven to 200°F. When all the chicken is coated, carefully place into hot oil. Fry for 6-7 minutes or until they have reached an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove and allow excess oil to drain on wire rack or paper towel and keep in oven to stay warm until ready to build tacos. Only fry 4-5 pieces at a time so the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much.
6. Before assembling tacos, quickly warm tortillas in a dry pan over medium heat. To build, spoon a layer of sauce onto the centre of tortilla and then place on a piece of fried chicken. Top with slaw, jalapenos, and green onion. Garnish with cilantro  leaves and drizzle on more Sriracha if desired

*Korean chili flakes are available in most Asian grocery stores. If unavailable feel free to substitute for cayenne pepper.

Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad

As you may have seen in the recipe for my Spicy Miso Soup, I have been working with Reynolds on their Endless Table program.  If you’re not familiar with it, check out the website and Instagram  for some cool photos and delicious recipes.

The theme of the first two recipes were International/spicy so I thought it would be perfect to make this Thai inspired spicy cucumber salad.  I don’t typically create salad recipes, but this one is so simple and tastes amazing.  It’s very bright and refreshing so it makes a perfect lunch, snack, or appetizer on a summer day.  The salad gets even better as it sits in the fridge and as the cucumbers continue to marinate.

In order to help me create this salad, Reynolds sent me some foil and parchment paper.  The parchment paper makes clean up super simple.  Just line you’re baking sheet with it and there is no clean up.  I hope you enjoy this recipe and stay tuned for the rest of my collaborations with Reynolds throughout the summer.

Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 large English cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
• 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red chili pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup bean sprouts
• 2 1/2 tablespoons peanuts
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 4 Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

1. Combine rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to simmer for 2 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve. Leave mixture to cool to room temperature.
2. Add cucumber, onion, and chili pepper to a mixing bowl and pour over the cooled vinegar solution. Stir to mix everything together. Tightly cover bowl with Reynolds Wrap® Aluminum Foil and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with Reynolds® Parchment Paper. Place peanuts on baking sheet and season with a generous pinch of salt. Roast for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
4. Remove the cucumber mixture from fridge and transfer to serving dish. Top with bean sprouts and roasted peanuts. Serve with lime wedges.

Homemade Pasta with Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce

Pasta is one of those things that I love making for a nice weeknight meal.  It’s something you can make with very few ingredients and I guarantee you that you usually have all the ingredients you need to make fresh pasta and sauce from scratch.

I seem to always have canned tomatoes in my cupboard and there is a good reason for that; there are so many meals you can make out of them.  Whether it’s pizza, tomato soup, or this pasta sauce, canned tomatoes are perfect for creating a meal out of nothing.  For this recipe I used Muir Glen, fire roasted tomatoes.  While Fire roasted tomatoes aren’t necessarily my go-to for a pasta sauce they provide a nice change of pace and definitely added a bit of sweetness and a hint of smokiness.

Making pasta from scratch may seem a bit overwhelming if you’ve never made it before but it’s relatively simple and can be a very fun activity to do.  Technically, you don’t need any special equipment but a pasta roller definitely makes things easier and they aren’t too expensive.  If you don’t have one, you can always roll out the dough and cut the noodles by hand.

I created this recipe in partnership with the feedfeed and Muir Glen as part of an Instagram takeover.  Definitely check out both Muir Glen and the feedfeed for more delicious cooking inspiration & recipes.

Ingredients

For the dough

•      3 ¼ cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
•      4 large eggs
•      2 tablespoons water

For the sauce

•      3-5 cloves garlic, sliced
•      2 tablespoons olive oil
•      Pinch of dried chili flakes
•      Pinch of dried oregano
•      1 28oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes
•      Kosher salt, to taste
•      Handful of parsley, chopped for garnish
•      A few basil leaves, for garnish
•      Parmesan, for grating

Method

To make the pasta

1. Pour the flour onto a large board or clean surface and form a well in the middle.  Crack 4 eggs into the well and add in the water.  Using a fork, gently beat the eggs together and start to slowly incorporate the flour into the eggs until a dough begins to form.  If it’s too dry, add more water at ½ tablespoon increments, if it’s too wet, sprinkle in more flour in 1 tablespoon increments.  At this point it will be much easier to start using your hands to form the dough.  Once the dough starts to hold together, begin to kneed it with your hands for about 10 minutes and then form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap to rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Alternatively, if using a stand mixer, combine all the dough ingredients into the bowl with the flat mixer attachment and mix for about 1 minute and then turn it off.  It’s normal for the dough to be slightly crumbly at this point.  If it’s too dry, add more water at ½ tablespoon increments, if it’s too wet, sprinkle in more flour in 1 tablespoon increments.  Swap the flat mixer for the dough hook and run the mixer on speed 2 for about 2-3 minutes or until the dough is formed and sticking to the dough hook.  Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead by hand for another minute or 2 until it is elastic and smooth.  Wrap in saran plastic and allow it to rest for about 30 minutes.
3. Once the dough has rested, cut it into 4 equal pieces.  Using a rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a rectangular-ish shape and feed it through your pasta roller on the widest setting.  Cover the unused pieces with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel while rolling.  Continue to roll the sheet through the machine and progressively set the machine to a thinner setting until desired thickness is reached.   Lightly flour the rolled sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel.  Repeat this step for the remaining pieces of dough.
4. Add the spaghetti attachment to the pasta machine and begin to feed the sheets into it.  Be sure to lightly flour the sheets (and machine) before rolling them through to prevent the noodles from sticking.  Twist the pasta into little nests and allow them to dry a bit before cooking them.  If you are going to have a long delay between cutting the noodles and cooking, cover them with a slightly damp kitchen towel.

To make the sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat.  Add in the garlic, chili flakes, and oregano stirring to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn.  Once the garlic is golden, add in all of the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
2. Once the tomatoes are at a simmer, turn heat to low and cover for at least 15 minutes.  Transfer the sauce to a blender and blend until smooth.  Be careful of escaping steam, depending on the size of your blender, you may want to do this in several batches.  Once the sauce is smooth, return it to the skillet over low heat and season to taste with salt.  Allow the sauce to continue simmering with a lid on until ready to eat.  If the sauce gets too thick, just add a splash of water to thin it out.
3. To cook the noodles, add a few very generous pinches of salt to a large pot of boiling water.  Add the noodles and cook for about 3 minutes.  Fresh pasta cooks very quickly so be sure to keep an eye on it.  Before straining draining the noodles, reserve a cup of cooking water.  Add the strained noodles to the sauce along with a big splash of the cooking water.  Combine well with the sauce and then garnish with chopped parsley and a few basil leaves.
4.  Serve family style right from the skillet and grate in fresh Parmesan at the table.