SAN DIEGO — One of my first jobs was a dishwasher at Consuelo's Mexican Cuisine in La Mesa. We were allowed a dinner before our shift and after a day of surfing, I always ordered the Chicken Taco plate.
These are the recipes I picked up from the line cooks during my time at Consuelo's.
Taco Tuesday on Cooking with Styles
- Roasted Chicken, store bought
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cans black beans
- 1 white onion
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- 3 Roma tomatoes
- 2 limes
- 1 Hass avocado
- 1 ½ cups white rice
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp coriander
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 green onions
- ¼ cup cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp. granulated onion
- 1 tsp. granulated garlic
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
Start your Mexican rice first. In a sauce pan sauté ¼ onion diced with rice for 2 - 3 minutes over medium high heat, add ½ Roma tomato diced and 1 tsp salt then cook for a couple more minutes.
Add 2 ¾ cups of water, bring to a boil, cover with lid, and reduce heat to low and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff and serve.
Remove all the meat from the bones, season with cumin, coriander, onion, and garlic and 2 tsp. salt. In fry pan add oil and fry for 6 - 8 minutes until crispy.
At the same time start warming your black beans and give them a little mash to make them creamier.
While that's cooking you can start warming your tortillas, turning them on top of each other to keep moist and hot.
Slice remaining onions and tomato, and cilantro, quarter limes, arrange on large serving plate with salsa in center and serve.
Salsa
- 2 ½ tomatoes, medium, quarter
- ½ cup yellow onion quarter
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ jalapeno, seeds removed
- 1 lime juiced
- ½ tsp Kosher salt or to taste
Place all ingredients in a food processor, salsa maker, or blender together and pulse to a coarse consistency, set aside to let flavors blend. Add more jalapeno to spice it up.
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