Tequila and Cherry Tomato Shredded Chicken Tacos with Fresh Corn Salsa

I know, I know. I'm slacking. I've been cooking so much, but doing so little blogging! I've been a busy lady, you guys, so cut me some slack. I got a car recently, which means I am no longer taking the train back and forth to work. That was my precious blogging time. Now I have to squeeze it in whenever I can, between the cooking, commuting, working and exercising attempts during the week, it is hard to find time!

Well here's a wonderful post for you guys to sink your teeth into. Summer time is taco time. Lots of trips to Big Star Chicago made me anxious to get my own tacos brewing. So I got to cooking up some seriously delicious tacos. I bought a 4 lb. pork belly at the farmer's market the other week, but I'm still nervous to cook such a hunk of love. While I decide how to cook that beauty, I whipped up some shredded chicken tacos with a fresh corn salsa(I tried to mock the corn salsa at Chipotle. It's a good recipe guys, give it a shot.

 Tequila and Cherry Tomato Shredded Chicken Tacos with Fresh Corn Salsa

For the shredded chicken:

2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

1 pound cherry tomatoes (any variet)

1/2 cup tequila

3 cups low sodium organic chicken broth

1 lime (juice)

4 cloves garlic (minced)

2 medium onions (thin strips)

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon coriander

1/2 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper

3 bay leaves

2 large chilies (your favorite variety)

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper

Clean and pat dry chicken breasts. Season all sides of chicken with cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper and lots of salt and pepper. Heat a large saucepan with lid over medium-high heat and add the oil to the pan. Add the chicken to the pan and sear for 3 minutes per side.

Add the onions to the pan and saute for 3 minutes. Add the garlic to the pan and saute for 1 minute. Pour the tequila, chicken stock, bay leaves, cherry tomatoes, lime juice and chilies to the pan. Bring liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to a slow simmer and cover. The chicken breasts should be about 75% covered in liquid.

Cook the chicken for 1 hour, turning the chicken over half way through. After an hour, remove the chicken from the liquid and shred the meat off the bone. Put the shredded meat back in the simmering liquids and cover. Cook for 30 more minutes until ready to assemble tacos!

 For the fresh corn salsa:

2 ears sweet corn (in husk)

2 medium chilies (your favorite variety) (sliced, keep seeds for heat)

1 medium red onion (finely diced)

1 handful cilantro (roughly chopped)

1 handful cilantro (roughly chopped)

1 lime (juice) + more for serving

salt and pepper

Queso Fresco

Corn Tortillas

For the corn salsa: Heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Throw the corn on the grill (in husk) for about 15 minutes, rotating every few minutes. Cut the kernels off the cob into a fun salsa dish. Add the diced onion, hot chili peppers, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper to the corn. Mix to combine all flavors and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.  

To assemble the tacos: Heat oven to 250 degrees. Fill baking dish with 1 inch of water and place wire rack over it. Place the tortillas over the wire rack and place in oven for 1 minute. This keeps the tortillas moist while they are heating. Pile some chicken mixture over the tortilla with a big scoop of corn salsa and queso fresco crumbles. Garnish with lime and fresh cilantro.

This is a delicious summer taco that you guys will love. Just prep ahead of time so the chicken is done when you're ready to eat. It's actually really simple if you give it a little time!