Flautas With Shredded Chicken

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 tablespoon canola plus oil (for frying) or 1 tablespoon safflower oil, plus oil for frying
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 3 serrano peppers (remove seeds and veins if you do not like too much heat) or 3 jalapeno chiles, finely chopped (remove seeds and veins if you do not like too much heat)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped or 1/2 cup drained canned diced tomato
• 2 1/2 cups finely shredded poached chicken
• sea salt
• 12 thin corn tortillas, about 6 inches in diameter
• 4 cups finely shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• salsa verde
• crema or sour cream
• 6 radishes, trimmed and sliced
• guacamole

Recipe

• 1 in a frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the tablespoon oil. add the onion, chiles, and garlic and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. stir in teh tomato and continue to cook, stirry constantly, until the mixture thickens and the color changes, about 3 minutes. fold in the chicken, season to taste with sea salt, and heat thoroughly. remove from the heat and set aside.
• 2 place a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. lay a tortilla on the pan a few seconds until hot. transfer it to a plate and arrange several tablespoons of the chicken filling across the lower third of the tortilla. tightly roll the tortilla up into a tube to make a flauta, secure with a toothpick and set aside. repeat with the remaining tortillas. (i usually fry them as i make them to cut down on prep time and keep the tortillas from cracking).
• 3 in a bowl, toss the lettuce with the lime juice. spread it out on a serving plate or on individual plates, dividing it evenly.
• 4 pour oil to a depth of at least 3/4 inch into a deep heavy frying pan and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers and registers 350 on a deep-frying thermometer. add the flautas, a few at a time, and fry until crisp and pale gold on all sides, about 4 minutes. using tongs, transfer them to paper towels to drain. keep warm in a low oven while frying the rest.
• 5 place al lthe flautas on the lettuce on the platter, or arrange 2 or 3 flautas on each plate. spoon 1/2 cup salsa across the flautas in a ribbon, then top with the crema and the radishes. serve at once, accompanied with more salsa, crema, and guacamole if desired.