Ahh, chicken and chorizo or “chori-pollo” as I like to call it. This is a divine combination that can be served an infinite number of ways. You can serve it as tacos in corn tortillas, flour tortillas, in burritos, straight on a plate or pretty much any way that tickles your fancy. A few months back I got a deep fryer (which you should get btw if you don’t already have one) and I decided to make chori-pollo sliders on fried potato slices. These delicious morsels packed a ton of flavor and hit the spot in 30-45 minutes including preparing a homemade salsa verde. More on that in my next post.
What do you need for the chori-pollo sliders:
- 1 pound of Chicken. I used breasts here, but feel free to use any cut of chicken you want. Lately I find myself gravitating towards dark meat like thighs because they are cheaper,more juicy, and pack much more flavor due to the higher fat contents, which can be mostly rendered depending on how you cook it;
- 1 pound of chorizo;
- 1-2 russet potatoes. it really is amazing how far a single potato can go. I can easily feed 4 people reasonable french fry servings from a single potato, which goes to show how crazy portion sizes are at restaurants with entire baked potatoes;
- Melting cheese to preference. I like the Mexican melting cheeses for this one like quesadilla cheese or oaxaca cheese. You can easily use any cheese you like that melts well such as pepper jack, Monterrey jack, cheddar or whatever you have around;
- Salt & pepper;
- Ancho chili powder or paprika;
- garlic powder;
- cumin;
- 1 tablespoon of virgin olive oil.
How do you make them:
- Season the chicken however you like it. I typically keep it simple and allow it to complement the Ninja Cow seasoned chorizo. I usually roll with some salt, pepper, ancho chili powder, garlic powder and cumin. No need to marinade this one and no need to go super heavy with the seasoning. Mix up the seasonings in a bowl and lightly dust the chicken with it.
- Add olive oil to the skillet at medium to medium high and saute your chicken on each side until cooked (feel free to cut into it if you are not sure whether it is done. It should feel firm and not rubbery. Touch the tip of your ring finger to the tip of your thumb and feel the muscle beneath your thumb. That is the firmness you are looking for).
- Meanwhile, add your chorizo to another skillet and saute until well browned. You can break it up fine or leave it in course chunks for a more juicy end result. Render the fat from the chorizo, drain the fat and place the chorizo on a paper towel lined plate to remove excess grease.
- Cook your potato slices in the deep fryer at 375 until a nice, golden brown for 4ish minutes (the potatoes in the pic above could have gone longer to be honest).
- Throw the chorizo back in the skillet and add your cheese over medium heat until melted. If you like it ooey and gooey, add a lot of cheese. If you are not a huge cheese fan, just use a little or none at all.
- Salt the potato slices and plate. Garnish with salsa, cilantro and/or your favorite hot sauce.
Immediately enjoy or if you are in my house, be called strange and usual as everyone else eats while you take pictures of your creation as your plate gets cold 😉