Start by purchasing a two-pound deli rotisserie chicken. Then you just remove the skin and pick off the meat and you are ready to go with pre-prepared chicken.

2 cups shredded chicken
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup Onion
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 or 2 canned chipotle chilies, chopped
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. white vinegar
24 large tortilla chips ( we also tried using flat tostada shells broken in four pieces)
1 1/2 cups shredded jack cheese
24 cilantro leaves

In a 3 quart pan over medium heat, brown onion in olive oil, add cumin seeds and oregano and stir. Add chilies, tomato paste, vinegar and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer for about five minutes, add the chicken and stir until hot.

Arrange tortilla chips on a cookie sheet and sprinkle each chip with cheese then spoon about a tablespoon of the chicken mixture on each chip. Bake in a 450°F oven for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a platter and top each chip with a teaspoon of the cilantro avocado cream and garnish with an cilantro leaf. Serve warm.

1/3 cup diced ripe avocado
2 Tbs. sour cream
1 Tbs. chopped cilantro leaves
2 tsp. lime juice
2 tsp. milk
salt to taste

Mash the avocado to a paste using a fork, then combine with the other ingredients and mix well.

And this came in the following week...

Oops. There was a glaring error in our December 17th recipe for Roast Chicken Chipotle Nachos with Cilantro Avocado Cream. It seems that I failed to put the 1/2 cup of onions we ask you to sauté in the ingredient list. I was planning to put a note in this week's newsletter with the correction, then the following note arrived from an old friend who had encountered some problems with the recipe. Continue reading only if you are somewhere where loud laughter is well tolerated. Cindy's experience gives new meaning to the word "Oops!"

Cindy wrote...

I thought I would share this story about one of your recipes that I tried to make last night for a Christmas party. I have really enjoyed the recipes from the newsletter that you send and decided to try the Roast Chicken Chipotle Nachos for our party. However, I read the part that called for "1 or 2 canned chipotle chilies" as 1 or 2 cans of chipotle chilies. Elaine was helping me make them and as I dumped 3 cans (I made a double recipe) of chilies in the mixture, we were both coughing and sputtering with the fumes that were going up. Ben even came in and began coughing some.

Since I am not a gourmet cook (just a cake decorator — I'm much better with sweets), I had no idea how hot chipotle chilies are. Anyway, I finished with the recipe and then started on the Avocado Cream. I realize now that I really am getting old and am going to have to start wearing glasses when I read the amount of sour cream as 2 lbs instead of 2 Tbs — that's pounds verses tablespoons. I thought that sounded like a lot and I even looked at the recipe twice and read it wrong both times.

When I taste tested the chicken I thought my tongue was going to shoot through the ceiling like a rocket that had just been lit. I couldn't believe there wasn't a warning on the recipe of how hot this dish was. When I tasted the avocado sauce it was sour! Yuck! By this time, Ted and Ben had already left for the party and Elaine and I were 20 minutes late. There was no way I could serve this dish, so I grabbed the tortilla chips and a bottle of salsa from the pantry and whisked out the door. It wasn't until today when I was considering throwing away the recipe that I realized my error. The chicken was so incredibly hot that I couldn't believe you wouldn't have sent out a warning (I remembered hearing of you and Greg eating some Tibetan food that burnt your taste buds and figured you just enjoyed this kind of torture). I decided to read the recipe one more time before disposing of it. I just started laughing - what a dork I am!

So, how would you like some REALLY HOT chipotle chilies with some roasted chicken? I stuck it in the fridge and don't know if there's anything I can do with it. I'm sure it won't go bad for months with the spice that's in there. Maybe if it lasts till spring I can spread it in my garden to keep the dogs out of it!

Anyway... thanks for the recipes. I hope to have better luck with the next one. Have a great Christmas. Keep in touch!

Cindy, I have passed this along to Linda in hopes that she can persuade the Community Hospital North Hazmat team to help you out with the disposal....

December 17, 2004