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Julio’s Delicatessen has hit the road! This week, we’re on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico with some of our very best friends, the Smocks (a few photos after the jump). With five kids between us (ages 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8), it’s much easier for us to buy groceries and cook dinners ourselves than it is to get all of us to a restaurant. This means – in addition to the sun, beach, and Mexican beers – I get to take the kids to the local market and cook Rick Bayless-inspired food for great friends. What could be better!?
Our oldest daughter (and her sweet goggles)
Cannon ball
Adapted from Rick Bayless’ Mexican Everyday
- 3 dried guajillo chiles
- 2 dries ancho chiles
- 4 garlic cloves
- One 28-oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
- ¼ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 12 store-bought corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken (roughly half of one rotisserie chicken)
- 1 cup shredded Mexican melting cheese (e.g. Chihuahua) or Monterey Jack
One hour before mealtime – Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set a skillet over medium heat. Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles and tear into flat pieces. Toast each piece in a dry skillet for a few seconds on each side. Add to a blender jar when done. Add the garlic, tomatoes (including all of the liquid from the can), cumin, and pepper. Blend until the mixture is as smooth as you can get it.
55 minutes before mealtime – Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour the mixture from the blender through a mesh strainer into the pan. Push through as much of the mixture as possible, leaving behind only the bits of skin, stray seeds, etc. Cook until the sauce is very thick, about 10 minutes.
40 minutes before mealtime – Add the chicken broth, then simmer for about 10 minutes.
30 minutes before mealtime – Warm the tortillas just until pliable. Add about ½ cup of the sauce to the shredded, cooked chicken. Spread about ½ cup of the sauce over the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Working one a time, add some of the chicken mixture to a tortilla, roll it up, and place it into the sauce seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Carefully spoon the remaining sauce on top, being sure to cover all tortilla surface with sauce.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Place in oven for ~20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Julio's Delicatessen 