Chicken Ropa Vieja

Tacos, Anyone?

Chicken Ropa Vieja | Dara O’Brien

By Dara O’Brien
Creative Director, Lake Isle Press

Once in a while I nail it, but most of the time I make way too much food for dinner parties. I don’t want to run out of anything so I go large. This is, however, an improvement over my old practice of also making so many appetizers nobody had room for dinner. Progress, right?

My propensity to over-prepare explains why I ate bean tacos for breakfast today, as I did yesterday. It’s because the night before I created a taco bar for a small dinner party. The leftovers were epic.

I had never made a taco bar before, so I went a little overboard and prepared quantities of many of the components as if they were entrees. I had so much rice left over I needed to remind myself that I had not forgotten to serve it. I froze the leftover refried beans in two batches and still had enough for a week of breakfast tacos and then some. I readied twice as many corn tortillas as I needed, but luckily they retained enough moisture in the taco warmer that I was able to reheat and serve them the next day. And the next.

The centerpiece of this extravaganza was Chicken Ropa Vieja, from a recipe by Jose Garces and his book “The Latin Road Home” published by Lake Isle Press. He created the recipe for Chipotle Chicken Nachos, but the notes mention that it also makes a great taco filling. Indeed it does. And there was much more than enough for a five-person taco bar.

I followed the recipe as written with one exception: I used 2½ pounds of bone-in chicken thighs rather than 2 pounds of boneless thighs, and simmered them for 30 minutes rather than 10-12 minutes. The only speed bump I hit was when roasting the garlic for the sauce—I left it in the oven too long and it burned. I tried again, successfully, using the same oil, which I then also used to make the Chicken Ropa Vieja. The dish was not at all difficult to prepare: each component is easily made and they all come together seamlessly. I timed the final simmer to end as my guests arrived, then put the pot on low heat to keep it warm. When it was time to serve, the chicken was perfect: the right temperature, tender, and not at all dry.

Since my dining table isn’t huge I decided to combine a lot of the toppings into one dish for a version of a seven-layer dip with refried beans, shredded cheddar, radishes, avocado, iceberg lettuce, scallions, and queso fresco. I rounded out the other toppings with store-bought salsa (almost made my own, but since I made the refried beans from scratch I decided to coast on that one) and a very delicious guacamole made by one of my guests. Side dishes were Mexican black beans and yellow rice, and a fresh sweet corn salad with red peppers and scallions. I added a small bowl of crushed blue tortilla chips for extra crunch.

It all came together in what presented as an easy and effortless meal. You take a little of this, a little of that, and build your plate. You come back for more. Add a little dab of something else. You don’t necessarily eat . . . You graze.

But when it was over, there was so much food, and the kitchen was in such chaos (because once my guests arrived I stopped cleaning so I could spend time with them), you would think I had just made four meals for twenty people instead of one meal for five. My refrigerator was piled high with stuff, and my almost-full freezer was stressed.

It was clear I would be eating tacos for the foreseeable future unless I found a way to share this food, so I called a friend and invited myself over to his place—complete with a rooftop and a view of the blue moon that was to be at peak—for an impromptu taco party. I brought eight containers of food, and they were plentiful, and tasted as fresh as they did for Party Numero Uno. Like the loaves and the fishes, but with tortillas and chicken.

So that means my fridge is cleaned out. Almost.

CHICKEN ROPA VIEJA RECIPE

Click here for printable recipe.

Serves 8

Taco Bar with Chicken Ropa Vieja | Dara O’Brien

INGREDIENTS

Chipotle Chile Sauce
4 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, with sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp (4 to 6 cloves) Roasted Garlic (See Note)
1 cup chicken stock
2 Tbsp Spanish smoked sweet paprika

Poached chicken
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 Spanish onion, coarsely chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
3 to 4 Tbsp kosher salt

Ropa Vieja
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 Spanish onions
2 to 3 red bell peppers
¼ chopped minced garlic (12 to 16 cloves)
Kosher salt

PREPARATION

TO MAKE THE CHIPOTLE SAUCE, combine the chiles, ketchup, roasted garlic, stock, and paprika in a blender and purée the mixture until very smooth. Season to taste with salt.

TO POACH THE CHICKEN, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add the onion, bay leaf, and salt. Add the chicken and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, until just cooked through. Lift the chicken out of the water with a slotted spoon, drain it, and set aside to cool. (Discard the cooking liquid.) Shred it by hand into bite-size pieces.

TO MAKE THE ROPA VIEJA, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Cook the onions, bell peppers, and garlic, stirring often, until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the chipotle sauce and cook at a gentle simmer until the whole mixture has reduced by one-quarter, 15 to 20 minutes. Fold in the chicken and season to taste with salt.

Roasted Garlic

Makes about ¾ cup

A versatile and easy method for roasting garlic is to cook it gently in oil, similar to the manner in which you would confit a protein or dense vegetable. Not only does the garlic cook evenly, but it can be stored for up to two weeks, submerged in its cooking oil. Also, the oil is extremely useful in marinades and is great for dressing vegetables before roasting or grilling.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup peeled garlic cloves
2 cups vegetable oil

 PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 325°F.

Combine the garlic and oil in a shallow baking dish made of glass or other nonreactive material. The garlic cloves must be completely submerged, or they will not cook evenly. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake until the garlic is very tender and lightly caramelized, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Take the baking dish out of the oven and allow the garlic and oil to cool to room temperature before transferring them to a sealed container. Keep refrigerated until needed, up to 2 weeks

Recipes from “The Latin Road Home” by Jose Garces, Lake Isle Press, 2012

 
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