Chicken Flautas

Sprinkle 6 chicken thighs with salt, pepper, cumin powder and garlic powder. Brown over medium high heat with a small amount of oil.

After both sides are browned, add minced garlic, diced jalapeno, and Rotel. If the liquid around the chicken is coming up to about 3/4 of the chicken, add in 1/2 cup chicken stock or water.

Place a lid over the skillet and braise for 40-45 minutes until the thighs are cooked through and tender.

Remove the skillet from the heat and cool. I like to refrigerate everything in the pan so I can skim the fat off of it. After it’s cooled, remove the fat and skin and discard. Pull the chicken off the bones and shred it, adding the reserved pot drippings. It will be a nice moist mixture of meat and sauce.

Next, wrap 24 corn tortillas in a damp kitchen towel and place in an oven with low heat or microwave on medium power for 1 minute. This makes them nice and pliable so they will not rip to pieces when you fill them.

Add about 2 tablespoons of chicken filling in each tortilla and roll up. A toothpick inserted to keep it closed works wonders, however I didn’t have any when I made this. It still works, but I did have a couple open up upon entry in the oil.

Next up is frying. Heat oil (about 2-3 inches deep) in a heavy skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add the flautas 3-4 at a time to the hot oil and turn to brown evenly. I fried each one for about 3-4 minutes until the outsides were nice and golden and the meat at the ends was nearly crisp.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve with any fixings you like: cheese, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce.