Cider Braised Chipotle Chicken Tacos

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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Ingredients:

Shredded Chipotle Chicken:
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
4 cloves of peeled garlic minced
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon cumin
3 chipotles, rehydrated in hot water, then drained
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 12oz beer
1 12 oz can of hard cider (1 1/2 cups apple cider). You can also sub in chicken broth.
3 tablespoons chicken broth

Taco Fixings:
8 flour tortillas
1 avocado diced
1/2 cup red onions diced (I pickled mine which is also fabulous)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes

If chicken breasts are thick, slice them in half so you have thin long pieces. Add chicken to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix in garlic powder, minced garlic, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, cayenne, and the chipotles. Toss to evenly coat each chicken breast.

Heat olive oil in large pan. Sear chicken on both sides, 2 – 4 minutes on each side. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the beer and the cider. Cover and simmer from 30 – 35 minutes. Remove chicken from the pan and place onto a cutting board and shred the chicken with two forks. Meanwhile lower the heat of the sauce to low and simmer. Add in the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and let the sauce reduce. Once the sauce becomes thicker, add back in the shredded chicken.

To serve add the shredded chicken to a warmed taco shell. Top with toppings of your choice. I also put this chicken on pizzas all the time and it’s amazing!

Slightly adapted from a recipe from jenerousplates.com