Early in spring semester, our friend Phil was silly enough to mention he had just stocked up on supplies to make himself a nice Mexican dinner. Ever the moochers, my roommate Katie and I suggested he make us dinner instead, and when he actually did thus was born the delicious tradition of Taco Tuesdays. Katie and I would spend a full week looking up recipes and planning elaborate and progressively more outlandish tacos, and Phil provided accompanying beer or margaritas. Tuesday was arguably the best dinner of the week.
Margarita chicken was one of our favorite taco recipes, which means we all ate enough that night that it hurt to move and I had to go to bed early. I suggest NOT making the marinade right before class, because you will end up reeking of tequila. Which is delicious, but not ok for class.
1 lime
3 tablespoons gold tequila
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves minced garlic
a heavy sprinkle of salt and pepper
1 chicken breast for each person you plan to serve, cubed
oil for frying
1 cup cornmeal or flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
For the marinade, mix the vegetable oil, garlic, honey, salt, pepper, and tequila. Zest the lime, and add that, then add the juice of the lime as well. Dump in the chicken cubes and mix thoroughly, you’re probably going to have to use your hands to make sure everything is coated. Cover and put the chicken in the fridge for at least a few hours, if not overnight, mixing occasionally to ensure even marinating.
When you’re ready to start cooking, heat oil in a frying pan and mix the cornmeal or flour with a liberal amount of salt and pepper in a small bowl. A few pieces at a time, coat the marinated chicken in the flour mixture and drop into frying pan to cook. It’s easier if you have a friend for this part. While one of you flours chicken, the other can be watching the frying pan and stirring to make sure the chicken is cooking evenly. You obviously don’t want to drown everything in oil, but keeping the pan greased ensures the chicken turns a nice golden brown, instead of burning. Using cornmeal instead of flour gives the chicken a nice crunchy shell, but it’ll be delicious either way.
Serve with tortillas, guacamole, salsa, rice, beans, margaritas and whatever else you want to make margarita chicken into a lovely, fulfilling dinner.
