Recipe: Tacos de Pollo (Crispy Chicken Tacos with Cheese and Tomato-Cucumber Salsa) (Mexican)

TACOS DE POLLO (CRISPY CHICKEN TACOS
WITH CHEESE AND TOMATO-CUCUMBER SALSA)

FOR THE FILLING:
1 1/2 pounds shredded cooked chicken meat
1/4 pound Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1/4 pound mozzarella cheese, grated
FOR THE TOMATO-CUCUMBER SALSA:
2 pounds tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped white onion
2 small cloves garlic
2 small jalapeno chiles, stemmed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 English cucumber, seeded
Kosher salt
FOR THE TACOS:
3 cups canola oil
12 (5-inch) corn tortillas
1/2 bunch cilantro, stemmed and chopped (to serve)

TO PREPARE THE FILLING:
In a bowl, combine the chicken and cheeses, season with kosher salt and toss well. Set aside.

TO PREPARE THE SALSA:
Bring a saucepan with water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water.

Stem tomatoes; slash an "X" into skin at bottoms. Submerge tomatoes in the boiling water for 30 seconds to loosen the skins, drain and plunge into the ice bath.

Drain again; peel off skins. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise and squeeze out as many of the seeds as possible.

Pulse the tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapenos and vinegar in a food processor to a medium salsa consistency and transfer to a bowl. Add cucumber to the food processor, pulse until finely chopped (it won't chop evenly if you do it with the tomato) and add to the salsa. Season with salt and mix well. Set aside.

TO PREPARE THE TORTILLAS:
Place a large skillet over high heat and add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the oil.

When the oil is hot, one at a time, add the tortillas and fry for 5 to 10 seconds on each side, until pliable (don't overfry or they'll become hard).

TO MAKE THE TACOS:
While the tortillas are still warm, fill each one with a scant 1/2 cup of the chicken. Fold the tortilla in half over the filling, pushing the filling down to the bottom half of the pocket. Weave 2 toothpicks through the unfilled lip of the tortilla to hold the pocket closed.

Place a skillet or deep saute pan over high heat and pour in the remaining oil. When the oil is hot, fry the tacos 4 at a time for about 2 minutes, turning occasionally, until the filling heats up and the shells crisp slightly. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

TO SERVE:
Remove the toothpicks, gently open the tacos and fill with the salsa and cilantro.

Servings: 6
Adapted from source: Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking by Thomas Schnetz, Dona Savitsky, Mike Wille, and Richard Rodriguez