Shrimp and Fried Avocado Tacos

Image May 5, 2019 Tangie Holifield

Photo Credit: Dennis Prescott, 2016.

Take your avocado obsession to the next level by rolling them in breadcrumbs, baking them to crispy perfection and stuffing them in a tortilla with a few spicy shrimp. This version of a textural dream that is crunchy, spicy, and refreshing, all at the same time.We are sure that your hunger for tacos will never be the same on Taco Tuesday!

Serves 8

Ingredients:
For the Avocados:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 large egg whites
1 cup Japanese panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium firm but ripe avocados

For the Slaw:
1 lime
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 small red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, plus more for serving

For the Spiced Shrimp:
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
24 medium (31-40 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
A squeeze of fresh lime juice

For Assembly:
8 small flour tortillas, warmed
Lime wedges, for serving
Sour cream, for serving
Chopped tomatoes, for serving

Directions:
To make the avocados:
Heat oven to 425°F.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Lightly beat the egg whites in a second small bowl. In a third small bowl, combine the panko with the oil.

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit and peel. Cut each half into ½-inch-thick slices. Working with one slice at a time, coat avocado slices lightly in flour, then in the egg, letting any excess drip off and finally in the panko, pressing gently to help it adhere. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining avocado slices. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

To make the slaw: Finely grate the lime, making zest, into a large bowl, then squeeze in 2 tablespoon juice from the same lime. Whisk in the mayonnaise and a pinch of salt. Add the cabbage, scallions, and jalapeño and toss to coat; fold in the cilantro. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to assemble to tacos.

For the shrimp: In a medium bowl whisk together olive oil, garlic, cumin, chili and onion powders, paprika, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add in shrimp and toss to coat completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes or up to 24 hours for best results.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a a large heavy-duty or cast iron skillet on high heat until it begins to shimmer. Add the shrimp.and cook until just cooked through and slightly pink, about 3 minutes. Do this in batches if necessary with more oil; the shrimp should be in a single layer. Turn off heat and finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

To assemble: Grill tortillas on stove top over the flame until lightly charred. Fill the tortillas with the avocados and top with the cabbage slaw, followed by three of four shrimp. Serve with extra cilantro, lime wedges, sour cream and chopped tomatoes, if desired.

Enjoy!

Crispy Potato, Duck and Chorizo Tacos

November 21, 2015 Tangie Holifield

Crispy potato and chorizo are a classic taco combination—and I added just one more ingredient- duck breast, that elevated this taco to the next level. The ideal potato and chorizo taco should be deeply browned and flavorful, each crisp cube of potato coated in a thin layer of bright red fat packed with spicy, meaty flavor. The chorizo itself should have a range of textures from tender and moist to crisp. It’s a very straight-forward process to get there, but it does take a bit of time.

To get the perfectly crispy cooked potatoes, par-cook your potatoes in vinegar-spiked water. This technique will help the potatoes in achieving that extra crispness when subsequently fried in hot fat in a cast iron skillet.

For the best results, use fresh chorizo. In cooking chorizo, just when you think it is past point of being done, cook the meat just a little bit longer, browning it to a deep dark almost black color, but not brunt. The chorizo will be crisper, better browned, and much more tastier in the end.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
Kosher salt, to taste
1 Tablespoon white vinegar

One 8-ounce D’Artagnan Rohan Duck Breast in Southwest-Style Marinade (click here for the resource)

6 Tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 pound fresh Mexican chorizo
12 to 16 warm soft corn tortillas, for serving
cojita or goat cheese, for serving
1 white onion, minced, for serving
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for serving
Homemade or store-bought salsa verde, for serving
2 limes cut into 8 wedges each, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

For the Potatoes:
Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Add vinegar and 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook until potatoes are just cooked through, about 5 minutes after coming to a boil. Drain potatoes and let rest over sink until mostly dry.

Heat 4 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until lightly smoking. Add potatoes, shake to distribute around the pan, and cook, tossing and stirring occasionally until very crisp and golden brown on all sides, about 15 minutes.

For the Duck Breast:
With a knife, score the skin of the duck breast in a cross-hatch pattern, making the squares as small as possible without cutting into the meat. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.

Place in a hot skillet skin side down and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 8 minutes, while continuously draining off the rendered fat.

Flip over and cook for 4 minutes on the meat side. On a heated grill, finish cooking on the meat side for 4 minutes.

Cover the duck breast with foil to keep warm and allow to rest rest for 10 minutes, then slice it very thinly across the grain. Cover again and set aside.

Drain fat from pan.

For the Chorizo:
Heat remaining oil in a medium non-stick or cast iron skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add chorizo and cook, stirring, until heated through. Continue cooking, stirring and tossing frequently, until all the liquid has evaporated, some fat breaks out, the chorizo starts sizzling, and eventually is quite dry and well-browned, about 15 minutes.

Transfer cooked duck and chorizo to pan with potatoes. Toss to combine and season to taste with salt.

For the Tortillas:
Warm the tortillas with a little heat to make them soft and pliable. Place the tortillas in a dry (no oil) stainless steel skillet over medium heat and cook them for about 30 seconds on each side.

Alternatively, you can also do away with the skillet and char the tortillas directly over the gas flames for a few seconds using tongs. These stove-top methods work best when the tortillas are very fresh.

Serve the meat and potato mixture immediately with tortillas, onions, cilantro, salsa, and limes on the side.

Crispy Chicken Tacos

July 26, 2015 Tangie Holifield

During my travels this Summer, I had a long lay over at the Charlotte Airport. Given that there are the usual fast food joints in the main terminal, I opted to have lunch at a spot in Terminal D, called “The Rum Bar”, which
was reasonably priced considering that it was at the airport. Although a member of the staff highly recommended the Jerk Chicken Sandwich, I thought about eating such a spicy meal and flying would not agree with me, so I chose the Crispy Chicken Tacos,instead, which consisted of two tacos and was mainly composed of fried chicken tenders with an avocado cream sauce, Monterey Jack cheese and diced tomatoes, served on a flour tortilla. You had the options of having french fries or rice and black beans as a side. It was fresh and hot and tasted pretty good considering airport food. I think that three tacos would have been better as a lunch entree, or maybe because I was hungry and wanted more……

So as soon as I got home, I had to try to make these amazing little tacos, but with a little more low fat and low carb healthy choices.

Yes, it takes is a little time, but the effort is worth it, in developing more layers of flavor. So here is my take on The Rum Bar’s Crispy Chicken Tacos. I oven baked the chicken tenders, rather than frying them, reducing the fat content.

Also note that the avocado cilantro lime cream sauce is so delicious and it is also amazing on Chile Verde, chicken, fish, or seafood tacos. It is also great as a dip for vegetables and tortilla chips.

As for a cooking tip, warming the tortillas is usually the last step when serving a Latin inspired meal for dinner. With a little heat, they get soft and pliable – perfect for wrapping around the filling.

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients:
For the Marinade:
2 pounds chicken breast, cut into tenderloin strips
1 cup buttermilk
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
A pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cumin,
1/4 teaspoons chili powder

For the Breading:
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 cups Japanese Panko breadcrumb
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste

For the Avocado Lime Crema:
1 ripe Haas avocado, peeled and mashed
6 ounces low fat plain Greek yogurt
Juice and zest of one lime
1/2 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon
Salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste

For the Sour Cream Drizzle:
1⁄4 cup light sour cream
1 -2 teaspoons skim milk

One package 6-inch diameter flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, for garnish
4 Whole Roma tomatoes, diced, for garnish

Rice and Black Beans, for serving

Directions:
For the Chicken Tenders, combine the chicken tenders with all of the marinade ingredients in a large ziploc bag. Seal the bag tightly and gently message the bag to ensure chicken tenders are evenly coated with buttermilk marinade. Place in a bowl, just in case leakage that may occur from the bag and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. For best results, marinating over night is ideal.

Preheat oven to 375 °F.

Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Discard the marinade. Lightly season the chicken tenders with salt and black pepper. In a shallow dish, season the flour with salt and black pepper then beat the eggs in another shallow dish with the milk. In a third shallow dish, place the breadcrumbs.

Dredge the chicken tenders in the flour to coat, shaking off any excess flour. Dip the floured chicken tenders into the egg and finally, coat the chicken tenders with the breadcrumbs.

Place the breaded chicken tenders onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.Remove from the oven and set aside and keep warm.

To make the avocado lime crema, cut the avocados in half, lengthwise and remove the stones and peel. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth, place in a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap to prevent further oxidation and set aside.

To make the sour cream drizzle, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream and the milk. Transfer into a small resealable plastic bag and set aside.

To warm the tortillas making them more pliable, preheat the oven to 350°F.Wrap a stack of five or fewer tortillas in a packet of aluminum foil and put it the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until heated through. You can do multiple packets of five tortillas each all at the same time. Alternatively you can also warm the tortillas in a microwave oven. Put five or fewer tortillas on a microwavable plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. Microwave in 30-second bursts until they are warmed through. Repeat in batches of five tortillas until all your tortillas are warm.

To assemble the tacos, fill the tortilla in this order: spread a smear of avocado lime crema on the tortilla, add the chicken tenders and top with shredded cheese and a 1/2 teaspoon of diced tomatoes. Snip off one corner of bag and squeeze the sour cream drizzle onto the tacos, in a zig zag manner.

Serve immediately with rice and black beans.