It was one of those days when the weather was really cold and rainy, and just plain nasty. A perfect day for doing your taxes, right? Papers were spread all over the dining table, but all I wanted to do was hunker down by a roaring fire in the fireplace.
I had planned a dinner of grilled chicken on salad but, as the weather changed for the worse, a cold salad lost its appeal. It was time to put on my thinking cap, raid the cupboards, and come up with a comforting meal using what was on hand.
A quick search produced: chicken breasts, half a bag of tortilla chips, a partial bunch of sad-looking cilantro, a few dried chiles, some tomatoes, an onion, and several jalapeños from the garden.
So, I set aside my taxes for another day, and used my creative juices to make crunchy Tortilla-Crusted Chicken with Salsa Roja. As a side dish, I made a quick version of Calabacitas with some of the onion and tomato, a summer squash, and some frozen corn. Comfort delivered; taxes evaded… well, at least avoided.
~ David
Tortilla-Crusted Chicken with Salsa Roja
To print the recipe, please click the tiny icon below.
Ingredients
- 1 dried mulato or guajillo chile
- 6 plum tomatoes, fresh or canned
- 1 white onion
- 1 large jalapeño chile (I used 4 tiny ones)
- 1 teaspoon dried epazote
- 2 cups water
- kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large, skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- freshly ground black pepper
- ground chipotle chile, to taste
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs
- 5-6 cups corn tortilla chips
- canola oil
- cilantro, for serving
Instructions
- Make the Salsa Roja. Toast the dried chile in a frying pan with no oil. Once it is softened, remove it from the skillet. When it is cool enough to handle, cut it open and remove all the seeds, ribs, and stem. Add the flesh to a large pot.
- Quarter and core the tomatoes and add them to the toasted chile. Peel and cut the white onion into eighths and add to the tomatoes and chile. Cut the jalapeño in half lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds using a small spoon. Add it to the pot, as well. Sprinkle the vegetables with the epazote, and add 2 cups of water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat then simmer for 20 minutes until all the vegetables are very soft. Pour the contents into a blender. Add a couple of tablespoons of red wine to the bottom of the pot and swirl to get any remaining good bits; add to the blender. Purée the mixture until smooth.
- Wipe out the bottom of the pot with a paper towel and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Heat to medium high and pour in the puréed mixture. Caution: it will bubble like lava! Bring to a boil, then quickly reduce heat to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes partially covered (to control spattering).
- Let cool. Can be made 1 week in advance, and stored in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature or reheat to serve. (Makes 1 1/2 cups.)
- Slice chicken breasts in half horizontally so that you have 4 even cutlets.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using three flat soup bowls, place the cornstarch in the first bowl; break the eggs into the second and whisk well. Put the tortilla chips in the third bowl and, using a pestle, crush them so that the pieces are no bigger than 1/4-inch, smaller is better. (The chips can be crushed in a plastic bag on the counter using a pestle, rolling pin, or mallet, then poured into the third bowl.)
- Season the chicken well with salt, pepper, and chipotle chile (more if you like it hot, less if you don’t), then dredge each piece of chicken with cornstarch, tapping to remove excess. Dip the cornstarch-dusted pieces into the egg, coating them evenly, then into the tortilla crumbs, pressing to help the crumbs adhere. Place the coated chicken on the lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. Refrigerating the coated chicken helps the batter adhere when you sauté it.
- Heat a large (14-inch) skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add a generous amount of canola oil — you want it to cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts from the refrigerator to the skillet. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until the crust is a golden brown. Divide the chicken breasts among four warmed plates, top with salsa and cilantro.
- Serves 4, but can easily be adapted to serve 2 or even 1. Leftover salsa is great with chips, or used for other chicken, pork, or fish/seafood dishes.
© 2024 Copyright Cocoa & Lavender
Jane Sanders
February 11, 2023 at 9:34 amThat looks delicious, David, and definitely an excellent reason for tax evasion! You are so incredibly creative……
Jane
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:58 amAs always, a lovely complement from you, Jane, especially knowing what you’re going through in your household during tax season!
Mad Dog
February 11, 2023 at 10:39 amTime well spent and an excellent supper!
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:57 amThanks, Mad Dog! Much appreciated.
Jeff the Chef
February 11, 2023 at 11:13 amI love this idea! I’ll bet that chicken was crunchy and delicious. And if I’m going to avoid doing my taxes, this is the way i want to do it! I’ll tell you, every January I always think I’m going to get to it right away, and somehow I always find myself behind the eight ball sometime in late February.
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:57 amThe hardest part about getting your taxes done is… well, all of it! I just don’t like doing it at all. Like you, Jeff, I’d much rather be in the cooking creating a fun recipe to share with everyone.
Linda S Doughty
February 11, 2023 at 12:55 pmThis sounds delicious, a good use of tortilla chips, and a much better use of time than preparing taxes.
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:56 amI always feel that the amount of time I spent preparing my taxes is a huge waste of my energy. However, it must be done, right? Thanks, Linda, for your kind comment and I hope you get a chance to make this!
mimi rippee
February 11, 2023 at 2:46 pmBeautiful meal! I want to make that pretty red sauce! I’ve got all of the chiles for it.
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:55 amAnd you can make this much spicier if you want, Mimi. I made it fairly mild, but very flavorful for a guest who doesn’t like food too spicy.
Eha
February 11, 2023 at 3:08 pmWhen chillies and tortilla chips are mentioned, I know it is time to learn something new again . . . and today’s dish asks most inviting just asking to be copied. Am laughing as here we always talk about ‘tax avoidance’ but never about ‘tax evasion’ 🙂 ! . . . And very few do their own tax returns > one has one’s electrician and plumber and doctor and mostly one’s tax consultant whatever the wage or salary . . . ‘) !
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 11:55 amWell, honestly, tax evasion is a very serious term here in the United States. It’s usually used for politicians like Donald Trump, and it’s extremely illegal. However, I thought it be kind of a fun play on words. After all, I was only avoiding my taxes as you do.
Christina Conte
February 11, 2023 at 9:07 pmOh I’m with you! I’d much rather cook a delicious dinner than do taxes! This chicken looks wonderful and I’m sure it tasted even better than it looks, David! Now I’m sad because I’ve realized it’s almost tax time, ugh!
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 12:05 pmTax time was bound to happen, Christina! Who was it that said “the only two sure things in life are death and taxes”? I’ll take the taxes for now, thanks!
Frank | Memorie di Angelina
February 12, 2023 at 7:08 amSome of the tastiest dishes I’ve eaten were the product of scouring my fridge for odds and ends! And this is a great example of what you can do if you know your way around the kitchen.
And by the way, I didn’t realize you had cold and wet days out there!
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 12:04 pmThose kind of meals are my favorite, Frank. There’s a real rush from the creativity of pulling a bunch of non-related things out of the fridge and coming up with a fantastic meal.
It is rather odd, to think of the desert with rain, but we get two rainy seasons in Arizona: the monsoon in summer, which is spectacular, and then the winter rains, which are usually storms that come up from the gulf of Cortez. Being that water is so scarce here, we are always glad to get rain. However, after a couple of days, most people in Arizona go crazy if they don’t see the sun. I used to laugh at that statement until I’d been here for five years. Now, when I see a forecast with three days of clouds, I start quivering…
Ronit
February 12, 2023 at 11:18 amWho wouldn’t prefer crispy chicken with tasty sauce to doing tax! 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
February 12, 2023 at 12:01 pmI don’t know anybody, Ronit, that would prefer doing taxes to eating good crispy chicken!
Pauline
February 13, 2023 at 4:05 amYour salsa Roja looks and sounds so very good David, with a definite Spanish influence. I love crumbed chicken, and I can only imagine how delicious it was with the corn chips. Taxes, a thing of the past with us, but our Accountant made short work of it back in the day, worth every cent. We are sweltering in the heat here, I’ve told hubby aircon goes on tomorrow, ha, ha. The thought of a nice fire is very appealing in your climate right now.
Cocoa & Lavender
February 13, 2023 at 4:36 amHow lucky you are that taxes are a thing of the past for you, Pauline. They never end here…
The corn chips really do make this dish very different from others — and I thought of the salsa as more Mexican-inspired, but Spanish works, too!
Raymund
February 13, 2023 at 3:24 pmThis recipe sounds delicious and comforting! The Tortilla-Crusted Chicken with Salsa Roja and Calabacitas side dish make for the perfect meal on a cold and rainy day. I love how you were able to use what you had on hand to create this dish. The steps are well explained and I appreciate the tips for seasoning the chicken to your desired level of spiciness. Can’t wait to try this one out!
Caitlin
February 13, 2023 at 9:51 pmThis sounds so flavorful and delicious! And certainly perfect for a cozy rainy day in.
Max Ethan
February 13, 2023 at 11:35 pmI love this idea!This recipe sounds delicious and comforting! The Tortilla-Crusted Chicken with Salsa Roja and Calabacitas side dish make for the perfect meal on a cold and rainy day. You are so incredibly creative……
sherry
February 14, 2023 at 9:51 pmlove the shot with all the pretty vegetables David. Calabacitas? Nope don’t know that one. So when does your tax year end? Ours is end of June each year unless you run a business and then it’s end April, I think! Good luck with them 🙂
cheers
sherry
Velva
February 16, 2023 at 2:40 pmDavid, this dish so worked on a cold nasty day, made worse by the idea of having to get your taxes done (laugh). This is a great meal. I had calabacitas for the first time in New Mexico-although, living in the south I had plenty of zucchini and yellow squashes.
Stay warm.
Velva
Valentina
February 17, 2023 at 12:13 pmTortilla-Crusted Chicken is WAY better than taxes! 😉 Seriously, this looks delicious and the salsa roja is calling to me. I can imagine it with so many things. 🙂 ~ Valentina
Cocoa & Lavender
February 25, 2023 at 11:18 amThanks, Valentina! The Salsa Roja is really quite wonderful and good on so many different things!
Marty Schofield
February 17, 2023 at 2:43 pmDavid, this looks delicious! I always have a partial bag of crumbs that I could eat with a spoon that will work perfectly! On the Tax note, I did taxes for a living for years. To me it’s like a big puzzle. I feel differently when it’s my own though.
Cocoa & Lavender
February 25, 2023 at 11:17 amI used to do my own taxes many years ago, now, I just put my stuff together for an account! That alone is often way too much! I’m glad you like this recipe, Marty, and that you often have leftover tortilla crumbs to use for it.
2pots2cook
February 21, 2023 at 6:09 amThis is so creative! And so much more interesting then taxes, right?
Cocoa & Lavender
February 25, 2023 at 11:10 amAnything is more interesting than taxes!
Ben | Havocinthekitchen
February 21, 2023 at 5:29 pmThis dish looks so comforting and soul-warming – perfect one for a nasty weather situation. Normally I’m not a huge fan of breaded chicken, but oh man – this looks absolutely gorgeous. Great idea to use tortilla chips for a perfectly golden and crunchy (and not soggy at all) exterior!
Cocoa & Lavender
February 25, 2023 at 11:08 amEven though I have posted Chicken Parmesan on my site, I much prefer these tortilla crusted chicken breasts! And definitely not soggy!
Inger
March 6, 2023 at 10:19 pmI was almost scared off my the word tax David! Pretty impressive dish for pulling from odds and ends!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:07 pmI imagine your refrigerator/freezer/pantry is a treasure trove of things to make! If we put our minds to it, I’m pretty sure we could outlast an entire month!