Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Burritos

Recipe: Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Burritos
Page: 48
Date Cooked: March 17, 2011

I made these "burritos" and immediately my thought was that they weren't really burritos. Nothing about it felt like a burrito. Then of course when I began to write this entry, I noticed this little tid bit that Jonathan Waxman inserted in the intro for this recipe.

"These aren't really burritos. I don't know precisely what qualifies a burrito as a burrito, but the tortillas are corn rather than flour, and there aren't any beans involved here. The truth is they really are more like flautas or crispy tacos, but I like the term 'burrito,' and it has stuck."

Ingredients: Chicken legs, chili powder, salt, black pepper, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, jalapeno chiles, onion, garlic, olive oil, lemon, lime, scallions, unsalted butter, goat cheese, cilantro, and corn tortillas

Unfortunately, my grocery store did not have whole chicken legs - but since a chicken leg is simply the chicken thigh + chicken drumstick, I improvised. The chicken was sprinkled with the chili powder, salt, and pepper and placed in the oven to roast until the meat was cooked through and the skin was crispy. Once the chicken cooled - the meat was shredded and the skin thinly sliced.

1.Raw chicken sprinkled with chili powder, salt, and pepper 2. Roasted chicken 3. Shredded chicken

The bell peppers and chiles were prepared using the "blacken and blister" technique, this is now what I call it. I had used this exact method in two previous recipes (Warm Lobster Tacos with Guacamole and Pork Shoulder with Mole Sauce). Once chopped, the peppers and chili were mixed with the chicken.

1. The peppers and chili 2. Peppers and chili blackened and blistered 3. After being peeled - they were chopped

The onion and garlic were minced and were cooked with olive oil just until the onions became tender. Next, the chicken, chiles, and peppers were added to the onion mixture. Finally some water was added to the skillet and cooked until the water has just evaporated.

Left: Onion and garlic mixture
Right: Onion mixture along with chicken, peppers, and chili

Once the water had evaporated, the lemon juice was added to the chicken. The mixture was transferred to a bowl and I then added the goat cheese. Once everything was mixed well, the minced scallions, cilantro, and lime juice were also added.

Chicken and goat cheese mixture

Finally, it was time to put the burritos together. The tortillas were placed on a flat surface and the chicken mixture was placed in the center of the tortilla. The two sides were folded over and then the top and bottom of the tortilla were also folded to wrap the mixture.

Chicken mixture on the corn tortilla

Finally a baking sheet was brushed with melted butter and the burritos were placed on the sheet seam side down. They were baked for about 20 minutes until each side was crispy. Finally, the burritos were topped with guacamole. Jonathan Waxman suggests using the guacamole from another recipe, but since I hadn't gotten there yet, I used store bough guacamole.

Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Burritos

I really liked the "burritos." I sampled the chicken and goat cheese mixture on its own and it was delicious. I would even recommend using the chicken mixture as some sort of dip. The cilantro also added a great freshness to the whole mixture, making it feel very light.

But I have to completely agree with the intro about this really not feeling like a burrito. Moreover, I think using flour tortillas would have been better. Flour tortillas are just a little more subtle and you would then be able to really appreciate the flavors of the filling. Nonetheless, it was fun finding out how well these flavors meshed.

Enjoy!