Tacos de Pollo

Often as the day moves on towards afternoon my mind wanders to the inevitable thoughts of what to cook for my brood.  Mind you, these are almost always pleasant thoughts. Some days I have such a clear plan of attack, at times even laid out days in advance. And, well, there are others when I've much less of a clue and mild panic starts to build. Add to that some of late-in-the-day appointments and several days of non-grocery shopping and I was at a bit of a loss.

A couple of the staples I try to keep on hand are chicken and tortillas, two things you really can't go wrong with. The chicken freezes beautifully, defrosts in a snap, and tortillas keep for a long, long time in the fridge. So right there you have a protein and a carbohydrate. But, they call out for veggies and other treats to brighten the flavor and make a complete dish.

I'm blessed to have a local Hispanic grocery store close by. The front of La Bamba in Sparkill is a tiny, tidy well-supplied grocery while tucked in the back is an equally excellent and equally small restaurant. (Some day I will do a write up of their food, including the scrumptious tongue tacos). I love their  produce selection,  and not once have I gotten anything but a perfectly ripe avocado off the shelf.

Adolfo Godinez, owner of La Bamba restaurant and grocery store (Tania Savayan / The Journal News )

In less than 5 minutes I was back in the trusty Volvo with a bag full of goodies: tomatoes, a red onion, avocados, jalapenos, cilantro, limes, crema, and queso fresco (a fresh, mild farmer's cheese).

Years of experimenting have led me to the conclusion that boneless, skinless thighs are the only chicken cut to buy. The pieces cook up moist and tender, lend themselves to all sorts of dishes and spicings. I've completely abandoned chicken breasts after all too many sad, cardboard-like creations.

Mixing together a dry rub of salt, cumin, medium hot chili powder, smoked paprika, marjoram and black pepper I patted it onto the chicken. While the poultry cooked on the grill I put together a basic guacamole using:

avocados

tomatoes

onion

jalapeno

cumin

oregano

salt

fresh lime juice

and a little fresh tomato salsa  made of tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, salt,  and a tiny pinch of sugar.

By this time it was getting dark, so rather than stumble about outside at the grill I crisped up the tortillas laying them right over the gas flame of my stove. You have to move fast though, or they will easily burn. With the smell of toasted corn meal wafting through the kitchen I shredded the chicken on top of the tortillas added guacamole, salsa, then a dollop of crema and some crumbled queso fresco...done!!!!