Monterey Chicken

Monterey Chicken
For a change, I thought I'd include a recipe for the Monterey Chicken dinner I made tonight:

Monterey Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts, each cut into 3-4 thin strips
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 cups Monterey cheese
one package of bacon
fresh corn tortillas
2 cups of tomatillo sauce (recipe follows)

Garnish:
diced roma tomatoes
diced green onions
Mexican sour cream
Queso Cotija

Preheat oven to 425.
Prep the grill with REAL mesquite wood. If you do not have mesquite wood, QUIT!
Prepare the tomatillo sauce, keep warm.
Cook bacon until lightly brown. Not too crispy.

Marinate the chicken in olive oil, sprinkling with salt and pepper. Cook over mesquite wood until just brown. The wood should be nice and HOT. Do not overcook! We're trying to just cook it, but we're really just after the smokey flavor.
Chop strips into bite sized strips. Place into 13x9 baking dish. Add bacon bits all over. Smother with plenty of sauce and LOTS of Monterey cheese. You might need more cheese. Toss into hot oven on the top rack for about 30 minutes. You're just trying to melt the cheese, but a little charring of the cheese will only add flavor!

Lightly fry the corn tortillas in oil until they are soft (about 20 seconds per tortilla. Oil should be HOT, or you'll end up with a pile of torn up tortillas.

To serve: Place one or two fried tortillas on the side of a plate. Serve up a nice mound of rice and beans on the side. Plate up the chicken and sauce on the tortillas. Add garnishes of your choice.


Tomatillo Sauce:
2 lbs tomatillos
1/4 cup dried chile de arbol
4-6 chile serranos
1/4 cup cilantro
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 sweet onion (vidalia is my choice)
2-3 teaspoons vinegar
1-1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Chicken broth

over mesquite grill, blacken tomatillos, onions, serranos and chile de arbol. Once well blackened, process along with the rest ingredients in blender or food processor. Add up to 1/2 cup chicken broth to thin down sauce.

Cook in medium saucepan for about 30 minutes, or until the sauce is fully cooked, adjusting salt and broth for personal taste