Sweet Livin' Chicken & Steak Tacos, Roasted Corn & Chiles Corn Salsa

Living the Good Life,
Eating Good Too

This post goes out to a good friend we all know as Bonnie and to her readers over on Sweet Life where you will always find a cool outlook, Texan style.

Living in a state as big as Texas, one can easily get lost trying to compete with the fusion of Mexican cookery, sweatin' hot Texan cookouts and influences of outside folks, like me, but not our sweetie pie. Straight shooting, stable and unwavering (maybe ‘cause she’s a youngin’ as far as I am concerned), you just can’t help be drawn into a sense of calmness after some of her reads. And her down-to-earth, Mex-Tex border-style recipes are so appealing, photos are so darn astonishing, it’s like visiting a cooking show for amazement, sometimes a street vender for a sensory test and sometimes when we’re lucky, a reality show for comic relief.

Edinburg Texas is just a good stone’s throw to the Rio Grande if I’m not mistaken and I have a feeling she is native to some part of the southern Texas region. If not, she has settled pretty darn well into the Texas sweet life. Her two girls and hubby all seem to be in harmony with a life some of us can only dream of living.


So my friends in Texas and elsewhere, I want to share a few recipes that’s sweet on my list. Now these tacos are not meant to contend nor even compare with a few Bonnie posted back in July. I’m talking about Diana Barrios’ puffy tacos with that great beef picadillo and the spicy rajas de poblano. You can find the recipes in her 5 part series featuring Diana. This one also has her puffy taco recipe from the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay.

My tacos are great served with a side of frijoles refritos or my Frijoles Charros. Both of the meats are flavorful, not as spicy as it sounds and grilling quickly over a hot fire leaves the meat extra saucy. To top these off, I roasted up some rajas of sweet red bell peppers and onions and made a salsa with some left-over ears of corn and chiles.   Enjoy!

Livin’ the Sweet Life Chicken Tacos
    marinated chicken
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

Marinade:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 garlic pods, minced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons native honey, optional
    Wash and clean up the chicken. Pat each piece dry with a paper towel. Slice each breast horizontally in half and with a mallet, pound to an even thickness.
    Combine everything in a sealable plastic bag, add the chicken pieces and marinate for 1 to 2 hours.
    Grilling: Remove chicken from the bag and discard the marinade. Grill the chicken over medium-high direct heat until brown on each side. Remove to a platter and cover with foil.
    Assembly: Slice chicken into 1/4-inch thick slices. Fold taco and stuff with slice chicken, add Roasted Chiles and Corn Salsa, and a light squeeze of lime.

    Grilled Chipotle Steak Tacos
      marinated steak
    1 pound thin sliced breakfast steak (from bottom sirloin) or skirt steak
    8 roasted garlic pods, peeled & mashed
    2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    2 tablespoons Worcestershire
    1 tablespoon red chile powder
    1/2 teaspoon smoked cumin
    2 teaspoons onion powder
    1 teaspoon sea salt
    1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
    1/4 cup vegetable oil
    1 1/2 teaspoons chopped chipotle with adobe sauce
    2 tablespoons Heinz chili sauce (or ketchup will do)
      Pound the meat with a mallet to about 1/4-inch thickness.
      Make a rub with remaining ingredients and spread over the steak covering both sides. Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 6 hours.
      Grilling: medium-high direct heat, turning once, cooking no more that 6 minutes total
      Assembly: Slice meat against grain into 1/4-inch strips or into a fine dice.
      Serve with corn tortillas and your choice of red salsa, shredded lettuce, cabbage, radishes, chopped tomatoes, limejuice, sliced avocados or cheese.

      Roasted Chiles and Corn Salsa
        fire roasted
      Olive oil
      5 or 6 ears fresh sweet corn
      6 to 8 roma tomatoes
      10 to 12 Anaheim, Chile Verde, California Red or New Mexico chiles
      1/2 red onion, chopped
      1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
      1 teaspoon granulated sugar
      1 teaspoon fresh minced oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
      1/4 teaspoon sea salt
        Brush oil over the tomatoes, chiles and corn. Place over a medium heated grill turning often until corn is brown and the skin of tomatoes and chiles are blistered. Place corn aside to cool and put the tomatoes and chiles in a plastic or brown paper bag to sweat for about 20 minutes. Roasting the vegetables is easy in the oven as well as on the stove-top.
        Cut the kernels from the cob into a bowl. Peel the skins from the chiles and tomatoes. Remove and discard the seeds and give both chiles and tomatoes a rough chop. Place in the bowl with the corn along with remaining ingredients. Stir and allow to marinate covered in the refrigerator for at least an hour to develop.
        Note: Add a chopped mango or grilled peaches to sweeten this up if desired.

        Comments

        1. Oh yes, this is living the good life! I remember seeing that puffy taco throwdown & they looked amazing. That steak is making my mouth water.

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        2. Gorgeous tacos...love the marinades and as always a perfect grill. But you know I'm a salsa girl, so I really want some of that Roasted Chiles and Corn Salsa :)

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        3. You know I love tacos, and the roasted chile salsa sounds absolutely amazing!!!

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        4. Now...now....now....I'm drooling real bad here seeing all these :D I'm still dreaming of my chicken fajita that my daughter made. This evening I even tried making my own tortillas. It was successful!!....yeah :D I made fish fajita....mmmm. Tacos is on my list now. I have learned more about Mexican food the past few days...burritos, nachos and quesadillas. See...I am learning...haha Will have to check out Bonnie's blog. She's such a sweet blogger.

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        5. You are paying us all such a compliment by dedicating posts to us. This food looks wonderful. Delicious to the last bite!

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        6. Yummy tacos, love your corn salsa, wouldn't mind enjoying this meal for dinner, thanks for sharing!

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        7. sounds like my kind of feast!! Tex Mex is the best Mexican there is, and how I do miss Texas!! Thanks for some great recipes of some of my favorite foods!!

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        8. Grilled Chipotle Steak Tacos - Mine!

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        9. You aren't kidding about this being the good life! I could have a few of those right now for breakfast...yum!

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        10. Love me some chipotle steak tacos and roasted chili corn salsa, cher! I am drooling and will have to try these scrumptious looking recipes, soon! Tex Mex is my fave, next to Cajun, of course.

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        11. They sound AWESOME. I'm sure Bonnie would approve!

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        12. Oh Drick , truly I am blushing and speechless (that's a first),I can over to see what you were cooking and I find this, I woke everybody up so they could read your post, lol..hey it was super sweet,I had to share, chuls said "wow mom you gotta make those chipolte steak tacos.." how funny,hubby is still drooling and pips well she loved the frijoles.
          I love the "living the sweeet life tacos" love it! thanks for the wonderful post my friend, take care and big Texas HUGS from Edinburg, Texas
          sweetlife

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        13. Wonderful, chili spice and zip is a great antidote for hot summer days. Great post as always.

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        14. Holy smokes this looks fantastic!

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        15. Hey Drick, this is one south of the border feast indeed! The roasted chili and corn salsa is a must try on my list, though I have never used vinegar in my salsas, that is an interesting twist!

          Bon appetit!
          =:~)

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        16. Hey Drick, these two taco versions look and sound wonderful! And I love Bonnie too-she's kind of awesome;)
          p.s. your blog background is very peaceful-me likes.

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        17. Oh yes, Tex-Mex is the way to go. The tacos are gorgeous, and the roasted chili and corn salsa, love it. Amazing marinades you have there.

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        18. You had me with the chipotle steak tacos! I adore chipotle pepper's smoky flavor. Great roasted veggies too!

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        19. what time is dinner??? That looks so good!!

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        20. What a wonderful tribute - you nailed it. The recipes all look amazing.

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