Pollo Borracho

I was looking through a cookbook of Mexican dishes yesterday, and I found a recipe for Pollo Borracho, or drunken chicken. Great name, yes? It all sounded very appealing, and in the end it was edible, but I did not love this version of the dish. I do love personal ratings systems, however, so I give it three tines out of five.

What an impressive list of ingredients, though: tequila, chicken, raisins, apples, nuts, a banana, Salt, onion, garlic and chicken stock. The recipe called for chicken thighs browned in oil, but I was using a nice breast that I initially thought I would cut into chunks, coat with flour, and pan fry. But I didn't do it that way to save a few calories. Instead I boiled the chicken (No better way than boiling to get rid of all the fat and lusciousness, is what the wife said,) which is not a bad way to cook chicken, but not my favorite. Then I shredded it with my fingers. I left some chicken out of the dish to make tacos, but I decided, since I have been killing the breads lately, to curb my bread intake for a spell, sort of like my own version of Lent, since I am a heathen, not a Catholic. So if I decide to eat my chicken tacos today, they will be made with lettuce instead of tortillas, and that saddens me a little. I will get over it.

So after sauteing most of those groceries for a time, I added the stock and the tequila and let it cook to evaporate the alcohol. The tequila flavor was still present in the dish, and it was tolerably good alongside the sweetness of the fruit. Unfortunately, all of those flavors together were a bit different than what I am accustomed to, and that is probably the reason I did not love it. But it's good to use different ingredients in different ways occasionally to give you a new flavor perspective. Even if you don't love the dish, you may generate an idea that perhaps will incorporate itself into a future meal in a way that is most pleasant to the palate.

My original intention was to cook chicken chimichangas with rice since I had homemade tortillas from Sunday, but instead I was swayed by the exotic name--Pollo Borracho. I probably ordered chimichangas 20 times before I even considered ordering anything else, so if you can sense my disappointment, you're right. But in the long run, I am healthier for not frying tortillas yesterday, and healthier living is the main point of making your own food, I think.