PULLED CHICKEN TACOS

taco tuesday.. & wednesday & thursday & oh fuck it taco EVERYDAY. for a long time (too long) growing up, i wasn't into mexican food. maybe it was because i lived in a small italian populated town where taco bell and old el paso was considered mexican. maybe it was because the first thing that came to mind when i herd mexican was beans & cheese (fart). or maybe it was because i was just an ignorant child. luckily moving to toronto has opened up the glory of mexican food to me. torontonians LOVE mexican. tacos, carnitas, burritos, churros! you name it, toronto has it in every form. thanks to toronto, i don't ever want to go a week again without stuffing some sort of taco or burrito (or both) in my mouth. today i am going to teach you how to make one of my favourite restaurant style tacos at home: pulled chicken tacos with guacamole and pickled red onions. remember, you can never put too much guacamole on your taco. if you are feeling lazy and want to buy a roast chicken from the grocery store, go for it. however, in this post i am going to teach you not only how to make the best chicken tacos, but how to roast the perfect bbq chicken for any meal. note: it is important to make the red onions the day before for best results. i often make them a week in advance and use them for various meals. 

ingredients

for the chicken

• 1 whole raw chicken
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic bulb, roughly chopped
• 1 cup of your favourite barbecue sauce (i use sweet baby ray's)

for the guacamole

• 2 large (3 small) ripe avocados
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 lime, juice & zest
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• salt to taste 
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 roma tomato, chopped

for the onions

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

for the tacos (serves 4)

• 8 corn tortilla shells
• 1 roasted chicken, pulled off the bone (see recipe above)
• 2 cups guacamole (see recipe above)
• 1/2 cup pickled red onions (see recipe above)
• fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, sliced as garnish

directions

• for the chicken: rub chicken with paprika, oregano, mustard powder, pepper, salt, chili powder and oil. stuff carcass with onion, lemon and garlic. in a roasting pan cook at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. brush with barbecue sauce and lower heat to 350 degrees. continue roasting chicken until fully cooked (approximately 1 hour- 1.5 hours). let rest until cool enough to handle. shred chicken and toss with remaining bbq sauce. set aside until you are ready to assemble tacos.
• for the guacamole: in a mixing bowl add avocados, onions, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, pepper, salt and cilantro. mash until smooth and creamy. stir in tomatoes. set aside until you are ready to assemble tacos.
• for the pickled onions: in a mason jar add sliced onions, sugar, salt, vinegar, garlic cloves and peppercorns. seal lid tight and shake until all the flavours are blended.  best to make these in advanced.  
• to assemble tacos begin with the corn tortilla. top with pulled chicken, guacamole, pickled onions and cilantro. garnish plate with a fresh lime.

STRAWBERRY + RHUBARB OAT BARS

welcome back for part two of rhubarb week! since i bought so much rhubarb last week at the farmers market, i was able to whip up two different desserts. if you are anything like me, when it comes to a crumble or cobbler you try to scoop a little extra of the topping onto your plate. i mean, come on. the best part of any crumble is the mixture of buttery sweet oats. when i was little and my aunt would make me her apple crisp, i would only eat the topping & leave the apple slices on my plate. what little kid really wants visible fruit in a dessert?! well i call these strawberry rhubarb oat bars, it really reminds me of my dream fruit cobbler. it has crumbled oats on the bottom AND top of the fruit filling. i literally ended up eating half of it as soon as i finished taking the photos of it (should i have kept that to myself? true story). BUT since it is called oat bars, it's automatically healthy right? right?! this recipe has been adapted from smitten kitchen, one of my original favourite food bloggers:)

ingredients

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup diced rhubarb
• 1 cup diced strawberrys
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• juice from half a lemon

directions

• preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• in a mixing bowl stir oats, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and butter until a crumb texture is formed.
• press half the crumble into a greased 8 by 8 baking dish and form a crust.
• add strawberries and rhubarb to the baking dish and sprinkle with cornstarch, remaining sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice.
• finish by topping the fruit with the remaining oat mixture and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
• let cool to room temperature before slicing into.
• top with powdered sugar if desired.

STRAWBERRY + RHUBARB PIE

rhubarb week commence! this past weekend i went on a hunt for the biggest & brightest rhubarb in the city. i ended up finding a beautiful bunch of ontario grown rhubarb from the farmers market in liberty village, along side some strawberries and asparagus. i like to call rhubarb 'pink celery' as not many people are familiar with what it looks like outside of a strawberry rhubarb pie. when my mom was growing up rhubarb used to grow wild in her backyard and they would eat it raw dipped in sugar. like a fresh jolly rancher! the pie crust is a butter based dough and full of buttery flavour. i have yet to make a pie dough using shortening (shortening scares me) because butter, right? maybe one day i will try to do a butter + shortening mixed crust, but for now this crust compliments the sweet & sour filling perfectly! plus, the bright pink & red colours look and photograph amazing.

ingredients

for the dough

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed
• 1/2 cup ice cold water

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

  for the filling

• 3 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

• 3 cups chopped fresh strawberries
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 pinch of salt

• 1/4 cup corn starch

  directions

• for the dough: using a food processor (can be done by hand too), pulse the flour, salt and sugar a few times to blend.

• add the cubed butter and vanilla. pulse until a crumb like texture is formed.
• slowly add the cold water one tablespoon at a time until a dough begins to form (if you accidentally add too much water add a bit more flour).
• once the dough begins to come together, turn out onto a pastry board and form into a disk using your hands.
• refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight.
• for the filling add rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and corn starch in a mixing bowl. toss until sugar is evenly mixed.
• to assemble roll out half the dough to approximately a 1/4 inch thickness. cover pie plate, trim, poke air holes, and pinch in edges.
• add filling, and top with the second half of dough (note: i did a lattice top, but any style will work as long as you have slits for steam to be released)
• cook at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, turn temperature down to 350 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes.
• let pie cool to room temperature to set before slicing.