The Thing about Tinga

Tinga is a dish I grew up eating at a potlucks and picnics. Now that I can cook it myself, I realize why it was such a common dish to bring, it's easy to make and delicious served warm, and maybe even more delicious served cold. Imagine a chicken salad that has been bathing in a broth of spices, tomatoes, onions, with just a hint of smokiness from chipotle peppers. That's Tinga. The other great thing about it, is that it's so versatile. You can eat it in taco, on a tostada, gorditas, sopes, or quesadillas (as pictured above). Tinga can also be made from shredded pork or beef, so feel free to make substitutions.


Tinga de Pollo
Serves 3-5


Ingredients

3 cups of cooked shredded chicken
1 tbs of vegetable oil
 2 large tomatoes, roughly diced
1/2 large yellow onion, sliced
1/2 tbs ground cumin
1/2 tbs dried Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken stock
1 canned chipotle pepper, roughly chopped
1-3 tbs of adobo sauce from the chipotles
Salt and pepper to taste

 Directions 

 Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the diced tomatoes and cook until they begin to soften and fall apart, about 5 minutes, stir occasionally. Add half of the chicken broth and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients (except the adobo sauce), chicken, cumin, oregano, thyme, chipotle, salt and pepper , and remaining chicken stock. Stir well, making sure everything mixes together. Stir in the adobo sauce, 1 tablespoon at a time. The more you add, the spicier it is. Taste and adjust any seasonings. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

You can serve warm or cold. Some great topping suggestions are your usual suspects, sliced avocados, queso fresco, salsa, sour cream, radishes, diced onions and cilantro.

Carne Asada

There is an episode of American Dad! where Stan Smith hires a family of Mexican illegal immigrants to manufacture teddy bears out of his basement. In the episode, INS is onto him, so he has to sneak them out in his van in order to get his shipment of bears out on time. Before he leaves, Francine warns him, "If you stop for more than five minutes, they'll have a barbecue." You guys, it's true. It's so true. We love to barbecue. I distinctly remember stopping on the side of the 405 freeway in L.A. to barbecue. If there's grass and enough room to set up some chairs, then you bet we're gonna fire up the grill. We are a resourceful people.

Typically, at our barbecues, we serve "carne asada." It's either flank or skirt steak, marinated or spice rubbed, and cooked on a grill. If you don't have a bbq-happy Mexican family or access to an outdoor grill, fear not! I present to you a stove-top recipe for carne asada!


Carne Asada
Serves 4-5



Ingredients

2 lbs skirt or flank steak
2 garlic cloves
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
2 oranges, juiced
2 lemons (1 juiced)
1 tbs worcestershire sauce
4 sprigs of Cilantro
Salt & pepper
Oil


Directions

Place garlic, onion, orange juice, lemon juice, and worcestershire sauce in a blender and liquefy. Place steak in a glass baking dish and season both sides, generously, with salt and pepper. Place cilantro sprigs over the meat. Pour the onion-orange mixture over the meat. Cover and let marinade for at least 3 hours.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Remove meat from marinade (do not clean off) and place on skillet. Brown on both sides for about 3 minutes per side. Only turn once! The more you move it, the more the juices run. After you turn it the first time, squeeze a bit of lemon and sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish cooking. Remove from skillet and let rest for about 5 minutes.

You may or may not be Mexican, but now that you have five minutes, you can have a barbecue! Serve the carne asada with a side of rice and beans or chop it up into small pieces for tacos or quesadillas.

For tacos, I like to sauteé the chopped meat a bit in some oil (or lard for you crazy people) and provide some toppings for delicious taco making. Topping suggestions: Diced onions & chopped cilantro, salsa, grilled spring onions or scallions, guacamole, radishes.