CJ's Chicken Flautas with Griddled Salsa Verde

CJ's Chicken Flautas with Griddled Salsa Verde

Ingredients: 

• Chicken cutlets
• Corn tortillas
• Pre shredded Mexican blend cheese
• Large aluminum tin
• Toothpicks
• Olive Oil
• 4-6 Tomatillos (depending on the size)
• 3 limes
• White or yellow onion
• 3 jalapeños
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Blackstone Taco Fajita Seasoning
• Blender

Directions: 

1. Pre Heat one side of your griddle on high adding a large shallow tin pan with olive oil, or other substitute oil to fry. Oil Temp should be around 375 degrees. Pre heat another zone on medium high.
2. First step is to season our chicken cutlets. Simply coat with a light amount of oil and season both sides with salt and pepper and add to the Blackstone griddle to cook. This won’t take long so be sure to watch and flip when necessary to cook thoroughly throughout.
3. Let’s prep our salsa ingredients. Starting with the tomatillos be sure to remove the husk on the outside as well as the stem and cut into quarters. Grab your jalapeños and cut off the stem and slice in half length wise. If you want to have a more mild salsa you can remove the seeds. I like the heat so I leave them in. Grab 2 limes to slice in half as well as one white or yellow onion to be sliced into large chunks. The onion will break up as is cooks on the griddle top.
4. By this time your chicken should be done. Remove the chicken and add the salsa ingredients right down on the griddle top with a bit of olive oil to coat. I also like to season at this time with salt and pepper. About 3 minutes into cooking these ingredients I add 3-4 cloves of garlic with a little more oil, some salt and pepper. Let the ingredients cook and caramelize. You’ll notice the limes starting to change color as well as the jalapeños roasting. Toss occasionally and remove when ingredients have cooked down a bit. You don’t want the tomatillos mushy so watch out for that. Once you remove them from the griddle they can go directly into a blender. DO NOT BLEND THE LIMES. Set those aside to squeeze the juice once you’ve added the other ingredients. Use tongs to squeeze the lime juice into your blender, add a little more salt and pepper and blend until all ingredients are smooth and incorporated. You can set this aside to cool while you finish the rest of your cook.
5. Now it’s time to steam your corn tortillas. I will use the small Blackstone cutting board straight on the griddle, spread the tortillas out on the board, grab the large basting dome and spray water under and all around the cutting board and cover to step, This step allows you to roll the tortillas without them breaking. You could also warm them in the microwave under a damp paper towel.
6. While the tortillas are steaming you can slice your chicken cutlets into small thin slices. Once those are done your tortillas are like done. They should be warm to the touch.
7. To create your flautas place down one tortilla, add a few strips of chicken, some of your shredded cheese, and roll the tortilla gently. Once it’s rolled grab a toothpick and push it through the tortilla to hold all your ingredients in while deep frying. Repeat this process till all your chicken and tortillas are used.
8. Your oil should be ready to go. In small batches of 6-8 per round add your rolled flautas to the oil to cook. This won’t take long at all since your chicken is already cooked. Roughly 2-3 minutes or until the shell is crispy. Once they’re done, remove them to drain on paper towel and season right away with some Blackstone Taco Fajita Seasoning.
9. While your flautas cool you can prep for plating. In a small bowl add some of your fresh salsa verde, stack your flautas, with or without the toothpicks still in, garnish with cilantro and a griddled lime and enjoy!