Hot and Crunchy Shrimp and Chicken with Avocado Cone

I believe that if you wanted to call something a cone it should be more than a gimmick. The cone should be more than just a paper snow cone cup; it should enhance the character of the dish itself.

So the first thing I decided to do differently was to deep fry the flour tortilla into a cone shape that could be utilized as a serving vessel itself. The cone was dusted with chili powder and paprika to help impart an extra level of spice and flavor.


Instead of making cole slaw and a spicy aioli, I combined the two elements and created a Sriracha aioli slaw. This consisted of shredded cabbage, carrots, and Sriracha ailoi.


I also did away with breading the avocado and deep frying it, I left it in its natural form to ensure that the rich and creamy flavor doesn't get masked.


The last element of this dish consists of using corn flakes as breading for the shrimp and chicken. I didn't change the use of the corn flakes but I did eliminate the sesame seeds and added roasted ancho chili flakes to add a touch of heat along with your basic salt, pepper, and sugar to help boost the flavor. The chicken and shrimp were marinated in salt, pepper, garlic, powder, cayenne pepper and paprika before being coated in the egg wash and battered.


Ingredients:


Large flour tortillas (10 inch diameter)
Canola oil (for deep frying)
1 chicken breast (halved and then cut into long strips)
12 shrimp (peeled)
1 cup corn flakes (processed and ground)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon roasted ancho chili flakes
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup shredded cabbage (loosely packed)
1/2 cup shredded carrot (loosely packed)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 garlic cloves
1 - 2 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce


Directions:


Start by making the slaw first so that the cabbage and carrots get a chance to absorb some flavor before the dish is assembled. Shred your cabbage and carrots and set aside in a large bowl. In a food processor add the 2 garlic cloves and begin processing. Next, add your mayonnaise and Sriracha and continue processing for about 10 - 15 seconds. Your aioli is now complete and should have an orange coloring. Add your aioli to the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Set this aside in your refrigerator until you're ready to assemble your cone.


The next step in creating this dish is to create the cone itself. Heat the canola oil in a deep pan to 350 degrees. Fold the tortilla so that the bottom portion is smaller than the top portion. This will create your cone shape. Now take some egg wash and brush it on the inside of the top part of the tortilla that overlaps. Gently squeeze this area so that the egg wash works as a glue to hold the tortilla together while frying. Place the side with the egg wash into the fryer first. This will seal the tortilla and ensure that it will not open during the frying process. Continue cooking this side for about 2-3 minutes and then rotate the cone and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat until the entire cone has been evenly fried. Immediately after removing the cone from the fryer dust it with 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of chili powder and paprika. Set this aside on a towel to cool and drain.

Marinate the chicken and shrimp separately by adding the following to each: 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Mix well and let this rest for at least 10-15 minutes.

To create the breading, add the corn flakes to the food processor and blend until the grains are semi-fine (a few large chunks won't hurt either). Process enough corn flakes until you get about 1 full cup after processing. Add this to a deep dish along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 2 teaspoons ancho chili flakes, and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. Mix these ingredients well and set aside.

Now that you have everything ready, it's time to setup your breading and frying station. Start by dipping the proteins in the egg wash and then the breading and directly into the fryer. The shrimp should be done in less than a minute and then chicken takes anywhere from 2-3 minutes. Remove the fried proteins and set it on some paper towels to cool and drain.


To build this cone, I stuffed it with the Sriracha slaw first since this contains the sauce for the cone. Then the chicken strips and shrimps were stuffed on top of the slaw. Next, layer the avocado delicately on top of the proteins and add another layer of the slaw.


Click here to go back to the review of "The Mighty Cone"

Fish Tacos with Kaffir Lime Aioli

The other day I saw one of my friend's post on Facebook that his wife made him fish tacos. I was a little disappointed that I wasn't invited but that just made me crave it even more. This dish is pretty simple but has a lot of components. I'll try to break it down as easy as possible.

Fish preparations:

2 pounds tilapia filets
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon cayenne peppery
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and mix well, let it marinate for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350°. Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake the fish for approximately for 15 minutes (be careful to not overcook, you want the fish to still look and taste moist).

Korean/Spanish rice:

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot thinly sliced
1 cup brown Korean rice
32 ounces chicken stock
2 Roma tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

In a deep sauce pan, sauté the shallots in butter and add rice once all the butter melts. Add tomatoes and all the dry ingredients. Then add 1/3 of the stock and cook rice in medium high heat and keep it covered. Once most of the liquid has reduce add another 1/3 of the stock. Repeat this again until all the stock is gone and the rice is cooked.

Cabbage aioli slaw:

1/2 head of red/purple cabbage (thinly sliced)
1 cup kaffir lime aioli

Directions:

Blanch the cabbage in a pot of boiling hot water for about 3 minutes. Strain and let cool. Add kaffir lime aioli (see previous post for this recipe) and toss.

Pico de gallo:

1/2 large onion (diced)
2 jalapenos (diced)
1/2 cup cilantro (roughly chopped)
1 medium tomato (diced)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well and adjust salt and sour preference by adding salt or lime juice.

Assembling tacos:

You're going to need tortillas (I used flour) and lettuce. Simply layer the lettuce on top of the tortilla, and then just add the rice, slaw, and pico de gallo. Drizzle with extra ailoi and enjoy.

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Chicken Quesadillas with Fire Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

I'll be going out of town this weekend so no cooking for me. But I wanted to post a little something you can do with leftover tortillas. You might have to actually go but the tomatillos though, I'll be surprised if you had leftovers of that. Everyone enjoy your weekend and if you have questions, comments or request feel free to post a comment.

Chicken quesadilla with fire roasted tomatillo salsa

Salsa:

5 tomatillos
3 garlic cloves
1 large jalapeno
14 grape tomatoes
Several sprigs cilantro
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Place 1st 3 items on foil and underneath the broiler until charred. Flip until other side is charred as well. I even used a torch afterwards to ensure charredness (if that's a word). Add ingredients to food processor and blend until all items are thoroughly mixed. Add salt to desired taste. Add roughly chopped cilantro and thinly sliced tomatoes and mix well.

Chicken quesadilla:

3 chicken breast
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/2 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

Tortillas
Cheddar cheese
Monterrey jack cheese

Directions:

Mix 1st 8 ingredients well and cook in oven at 375° for about 10 minutes or until chicken is done.

Place 1st type of cheese on tortilla, then add chicken (cut in strips), then add other cheese and place another tortilla on top and cook for 5-7 minutes at 375°. Cut into quarters or eighths and serve.

I also like to add sour cream on top as well, this will help to tone down the heat from the salsa. If you don't have any sour cream, you can do like me and make something similar it really is a "sour" cream.

1/2 lemon juice and zest
1/4 heavy cream
Pinch of salt

Mix well until it starts to thicken and then serve on top of quesadilla.

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Braised Short Rib Taco with Avocado Salsa

At first I was just going to eat leftovers and just call it a night. But I figured since I had to peel and prep some papaya salad for tomorrow's party I had some time on my hands to whip something up. Looked in the freezer and I found 3 boneless short ribs. Then I looked in the refrigerator and saw some avocados that I didn't want to go bad since I'm leaving town for the weekend. So this is what I came up with.


Short rib ingredients:

3 boneless short ribs (1 1/2 lbs)
3 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
4 Roma tomatoes (double quartered)
2 sprigs basil (chopped)
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 medium shallot (diced)
2 garlic cloves (diced)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
Several tortillas

Directions:

Evenly coat short ribs with salt and pepper. In a hot pan add oil and ribs until all sides are dark brown. add shallots and garlic. Immediately add chicken stock after shallots are transparent. Then add all other ingredients. I cheated and used a pressure cooker and cooked for 35 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker you can cooked in a regular stock pot with the lid covered until meat is fork tender. After meat is tender, continue to reduce liquid in pot until reduced half way. Stain liquid into separate bowl and mix in with short ribs. This will keep it moist and tender.

Avocado salsa ingredients:

3 medium avocados (diced)
5 cherry tomatoes (quartered)
1/4 white onion (diced)
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 juice of lime
Several sprigs of cilantro (roughly chopped)
1 jalapeno (diced)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients well but be careful and do not work it to hard. You want a salsa and not mushy guacamole.

Finally, combine meat and salsa on top of tortilla and enjoy!

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