Chimichangas

Created by Babish

Performed by The Gang

Ingredients

Start by dry roasting the whole cumin until fragrant. Grind in a spice grinder. Toast the chiles (ancho & hot chiles) in the same pan over medium heat for 1-2 minutes - until fragrant but not smoking.
Kill the heat and cover the chiles with water and place a lid on top. Let the chiles sit for 10 minutes until soft.
Once the chiles are completely soft, carefully pour the chiles along with their liquid into a high-power blender with half a small onion (cut in half).
Add two canned tomatoes, 3-4 medium cloves of garlic, ½ a teaspoon each of paprika and oregano, 2 teaspoons of the freshly ground cumin from earlier, 1 adobo chipotle from a can (optional), and a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Blend all together on high speed until it’s completely smooth, as you don’t want any chunks of dried pepper. Taste for seasoning. If it’s too spicy, add two more tomatoes and blend to balance the heat out.

Start by patting dry 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs and seasoning with salt and pepper. Sear over medium-high heat in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a high rimmed saucepan.
Once the chicken has a nice color on both sides, add 1 ½ cups of the taco seasoning sauce, cover with a lid, lower the heat and let it braise for about 30 minutes. During this time feel free to prepare the chimichanga accompaniments.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and let the sauce cook down until nice and thick.
Shred (or chop) the chicken right in the pan and toss in the sauce before setting it to the side to cool.

In a food processor place a 28oz can of plum tomatoes (drained & deseeded), ½ jalapeno (chopped), ½ a small onion (quartered), 1 clove of garlic, a few leaves of cilantro, a sprinkle of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Use quick short pulses to chop everything. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and chop again to make sure everything is chopped down to the desired consistency.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small bowl, combine ½ cup of sour cream with half the juice of a lime.
Whisk together until homogeneous then pour into a tiny squeeze bottle to drizzle on top later on.

Into a small bowl goes the flesh of 1 large ripe avocado with half the juice of a lime, 1 small crushed clove of garlic, a quarter of 1 small red onion finely minced, 1 teaspoon of the freshly ground cumin, a minced jalapeno pepper (optional), a few twists of freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
Mash together using a fork until the consistency of choice is reached and using a tortilla chip for a taste test.

Onto the lower third of the tortilla goes some of the shredded chicken, refried beans, and shredded cheese. Roll into a burrito.
Use a slurry made from 1 tablespoon of flour to 3 tablespoons of water to brush down the outside edges of the tortilla. This will help hold the burrito together as it enters the deep fry.
Over on the stove-top, heat a quart of vegetable oil to 350°F before dropping in the burrito and letting it fry for 2 minutes, or until deeply golden brown before flipping and frying for additional 1-2 minutes.
Once each burrito has been fried, place onto a wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet until ready to serve.
At which point, place on a plate. Start with a drizzle of Honduran crema, top a generous dollop of guacamole, and finally a dollop of salsa.

Combine flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix dry ingredients until well combined.
Add oil and water with mixer running at a medium speed. After about 1 minute, or when mixture comes together and begins to form a ball, decrease mixing speed to low. Continue to mix for 1 minute or until dough is smooth.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Divide into 16 equal portions. Turn each piece to coat with flour. Form each piece into a ball and flatten with the palm of your hand. Cover flattened balls of dough with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes (or as much as 2 hours) before proceeding.
After the rest period, heat a large pan over medium heat. Roll each dough piece into a rough circle, about 6-7 inches in diameter, keep work surface and rolling pin lightly floured. Don’t stack uncooked tortillas on top of each other or they will stick together.
When the pan is hot, place one dough circle into the pan and allow to cook about 1 minute or until the bottom surface has a few pale brown spots and the uncooked surface is bubbly. If browning too fast, reduce the heat a bit. If it’s taking longer than a minute to see a few pale golden brown spots on the underside of tortillas, increase the heat a bit. Flip to other side and cook for 15-20 seconds. The tortillas should be nice and soft but have a few small brown spots on the surface.