Creative Cooking

It's Sunday and I'm on a mission to be creative. Taking the afternoon to cook is one of my favorite ways to be creative. I find it relaxing and I enjoy the end product: a good meal for the people sitting at my table. Mexican food is on today's menu. I'm making refritos frijoles (refried beans), chicken tacos, and guacamole.

The chicken that I'll make for this evening's tacos is a basic chicken that I use as a base for any Mexican dish ----- tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, or taquitos can all be prepared with this chicken. Preparing it is easy, but it does take time and that makes it the perfect task for a Sunday afternoon. I begin by simmering the chicken breasts in chicken broth with some fresh ground pepper. I simmer the chicken in a saucepan for nearly an hour, then remove the chicken to cool, reserving the broth.
When the chicken has cooled, I shred it and then cook it again, this time in skillet with the reserved broth, some more black pepper, finely chopped onions, and chopped jalapeno peppers. The goal here is to simmer the shredded chicken until is absorbs the broth. This creates juicy, moist chicken and the jalapeno gives it a little heat.
For tacos, I fry up corn tortillas, and set out the tortillas with the fixings for tacos and tostadas: the chicken, of course; refried beans; shredded lettuce; salsa; shredded monterey jack cheese; and guacamole. Creativity that tastes good.