CHIMICHANGAS

For the Fresh Taco Seasoning/Sauce

Start by dry roasting the whole cumin until fragrant. Grind in a spice grinder. Toast the chiles (ancho & hot chiles) in the same pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant but not smoking. Kill the heat and cover the chiles with water and place a lid on top. Let the chiles sit for 10 minutes until soft.

Once the chiles are completely soft, carefully pour the chiles along with their liquid into a high-power blender with onion (cut in half). Add two canned tomatoes, garlic, paprika and oregano, freshly ground cumin from earlier, adobo chipotle from a can (optional), and a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Blend all together on high speed until it’s completely smooth, as you don’t want any chunks of dried pepper. Taste for seasoning. If it’s too spicy, add two more tomatoes and blend to balance the heat out.

For the Chicken Thigh

Start by patting dry boneless skinless chicken thighs and seasoning with salt and pepper. Sear over medium-high heat in vegetable oil in a high rimmed saucepan.

Once the chicken has a nice color on both sides, add the taco seasoning sauce, cover with a lid, lower the heat and let it braise for about 30 minutes. During this time feel free to prepare the chimichanga accompaniments.

After 30 minutes, remove the lid and let the sauce cook down until nice and thick.

Shred (or chop) the chicken right in the pan and toss in the sauce before setting it to the side to cool.

For the Chimichanga Accompaniments

For the Salsa

In a food processor place canned plum tomatoes (drained & deseeded), jalapeno (chopped), onion (quartered), garlic, a few leaves of cilantro, a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and a squeeze of lime juice.

Use quick short pulses to chop everything. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and chop again to make sure everything is chopped down to the desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Honduran Crema

In a small bowl, combine sour cream with lime juice.

Whisk together until homogeneous then pour into a tiny squeeze bottle to drizzle on top later on.

For the Guacamole

Into a small bowl goes the flesh of a ripe avocado with lime juice, garlic, red onion finely minced, the freshly ground cumin, a minced jalapeno pepper (optional), a few twists of freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of kosher salt.

Mash together using a fork until the consistency of choice is reached and using a tortilla chip for a taste test.

For the Tortilla

In a food processor goes all-purpose flour and room temperature shortening (cut into small pieces). Pulse together about 15-20 times, until it forms a mixture similar to wet sand.

With the food processor running, add warm tap water in through the feeding tube, letting the machine continue to run until a ball of dough forms.

Once a ball has formed, stop the processor and remove the warm, sticky dough. Knead for a couple of seconds to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.

Then weigh the dough in order to precisely divide the dough into six equal-sized balls. Once divided into balls, roll each piece taut and place on a well-oiled rimmed baking sheet. Dot the balls with oil to make sure they don’t stick to a loosely wrapped layer of plastic wrap on top. Rest at room temperature for 1 hour.

One at a time, retrieve the balls of dough and dust them on both sides with all-purpose flour. Roll them out with a well-dusted rolling pin until thin and round as possible.

Once rolled out heat a cast iron skillet to 400°F, or until you see little wisps of smoke coming off. Plop the dough onto the skillet and let sit for about 90 seconds, maybe longer or shorter depending on how hot the skillet is, but you want to see nice big bubbles before flipping and letting it sit for another 30-60 seconds. Stack the finished tortillas on a plate wrapped in a clean dish towel. This will help keep the tortillas warm and soft until ready to use them.

For the Chimichanga Assembly

Onto the lower third of the tortilla goes some of the shredded chicken, refried beans, and shredded cheese. Roll into a burrito. Use a slurry made from flour and water to brush down the outside edges of the tortilla. This will help hold the burrito together as it enters the deep fry.

Over on the stovetop, heat vegetable oil to 350°F before dropping in the burrito and letting it fry for 2 minutes, or until deeply golden brown before flipping and frying for additional 1-2 minutes.

Once each burrito has been fried, place onto a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet until ready to serve.

At which point, place on a plate. Start with a drizzle of Honduran crema, top a generous dollop of guacamole, and finally a dollop of salsa. Enjoy!