Chicken Tinga with Roasted Mexican Oregano New Potatoes
It’s true that one of the best comforts there can be when you are feeling down is having your Mamas food! better than medicine even, nothing like that warm hug that food sometimes can provide.
There are many dishes that my Mum makes that are very special to me and her chicken Tinga is one of them, made properly this simple dish is the definition of homely food!
I made some little changes to my Mums recipe because whenever I try to make something exactly like her it never tastes the same (sure this could be only in my head ) but to avoid that feeling and end up missing her even more, I prefer to make my own rendition to her dish trying to retain the soul and heartiness of it but also having something hopefully a little new to share with you all.
These are the two little changes that I like to make, the first one is to serve the new potatoes on the side that have been roasted in olive oil, fragant mexican oregano and salt.
Chicken Tinga is often prepared with the potatoes already incorporated into the sauce, but I am such a big lover of golden roasted olive oil potatoes, that I feel that in this case make the perfect side dish to absorb the sauce and juices of the Tinga, without the need to make rice or another side dish.
The second change is the use of my recaudo recipe ( check the link) where I like to roast my tomatoes with garlic and a bit of onion or spring onion rather than using a fresh blended tomato, onion and garlic mixture (like is traditionally made), I like how the tomato flavor concentrates even more when they are roasted, hence more flavor for this sauce.
But that’s it I promise you that you too would love this recipe!
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
Mexican Oregano Roasted Potatoes
600 grams new potatoes (parboiled for about 6 min).
1 tbsp Mexican oregano.
2 tbsp of olive oil for cooking.
Maldon Salt.
For the chicken Tinga.
1 large white onion.
250 grams of Spanish style chorizo (chopped in small pieces).
1 tbsp of rapeseed oil or any coking oil.
2 1/2 cups of my recipe for recaudo.
1 dried chipotle chili (stem free and soaked in hot water).
1 cup of chicken stock.6
600 grams of poached shredded chicken.
1 tsp of ground guajillo chili.
Sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Method.
Preheat your oven at 200 C for your potatoes.
In a prepared baking tray lined with parchment paper place your par boiled new potatoes, add the olive oil, Mexican oregano and a good pinch of Maldon salt on the top, use your hands to mix them and make sure they are all coated in the oil and herbs, bake for about 35-40 min depending on your oven, or until they get golden and are cooked trough.
For the chipotle recaudo, add two cups of the recaudo recipe and the soaked chipotle chili with seeds and all! I love to use all the spiciness of the chipotle for this dish, blend really smooth and set aside.
*Note if your prefer your Tinga less spicy you may remove the chipotle seeds before blending in with the recaudo.
Another option to make it kid friendly is to not use the chipotle at all, but what I recommend to do is to cook on the side a smaller version of Tinga without the chili for your kids, then everyone is happy :)
Add the rapeseed oil and chorizo into your pan, once the chorizo also starts releasing it’s oils you may add the onions, fry slowly on a medium heat and once your onions have turned soft you can add the chipotle recaudo , the chicken stock and ground guajillo , stir and simmer on a medium temperature for about 15 min.
Once your sauce is a bit thicker you can add the shredded poached chicken, season with sea salt and black pepper, mix with a wooden spoon and simmer for a couple of minutes, finally taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Serve while it’s still warm with the roasted potatoes on the side, make sure you add enough sauce on each plate and don’t forget your warm up tortillas, enjoy!
*Note. It’s important to use a good quality chorizo either Mexican or Spanish style, whatever you have access to , the flavour of the chorizo it’s essential in the final taste of this dish.