Baked Taquitos Dipped in Tomato-Chipotle Salsa

Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.

Suggested Use:
Use Morita in enchilada sauces, chili, stews, barbecue ribs, and corn bread. Their smoky quality combines well with poultry, meats and fall squash.

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Servings: 3

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (or 3 cups rotisserie chicken)
2 tablespoons creme fraiche (or Mexican crema, sour cream, cream cheese)
1 white onion
12-15 corn tortilllas (flour tortillas OK too)
cheese (Cotija, Feta, Jack or Mozzarella)
olive oil (or lard)
cilantro for garnish (optional)

For the Tomato-Chipotle salsa:
2 tomatoes (or 3 plum tomatoes)
1/2 white onion
1 clove garlic
1 chipotle, rehydrated in hot water till soft

For the Basis Guac:
1 avocado
1 lime
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
salt

Instructions:

Cover the chicken breasts with cold water. Season the water with salt and pepper. Add onion and cilantro. Bring to a boil and let simmer until center is no longer pink.

Roast the tomatoes at 400F for 20-30 minutes.
Combine with 1/2 white onion, 1 clove garlic and 1/2 chipotle.
Pulse blend and taste for heat, add more chipotle for more heat.
Shred the chicken with two forks.

Combine the chicken in a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons chopped onion, salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons creme fraiche, 2 tablespoons cheese, and 3-4 spoonfuls of the Tomato-Chipotle salsa. Mix well.

Heat up tortillas. Add a heaping spoonful of the chicken mixture to each tortilla.
Roll tight and secure with a toothpick or skewer. Brush with olive oil or lard.

Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes.

For the Basic Guac: crush 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion using the back of a fork.
Add onion to a bowl along with juice of half a lime, 1 avocado, and plenty of salt to taste.
Coat the taquitos with Basic Guac and sprinkle with a final layer of cheese and cilantro.
Serve with the Tomato-Chipotle salsa.

Slightly adapted from a recipe from mexicanplease.com