Firecracker Chicken Wraps

This recipe if from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 and is the third dish from Recipe Lottery #3. As I mentioned before a few times, I’m a huge fan of this series of books and highly recommend it. You can also go to his web site at http://www.topsecretrecipes.com where he has a ton of recipes from his books available for free. This recipe is from the Longhorn Steakhouse chain.

Avocado-Lime Dipping Sauce

• 1 smashed avocado
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• pinch (1/8 tsp) of cayenne pepper

Combine all of the ingredients then cover and chill. This should be made within an hour of eating and the closer you can make it to chow time the better because the avocado’s in the sauce will begin to brown.

Filling

• 2 small chicken breasts or one very large one (8 oz)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp diced white onion
• 1 tbsp diced red bell pepper
• 1 tbsp diced jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup grated monterey jack cheese

For the Tortillas

• 8 to 10 7″ tortillas shells
• 1 beaten egg in a bowl

There are a lot of ingredients in this dish but I suspect that they are all important.

1. Rub vegetable oil on the chicken and season and then grill it over high heat for about 4 minutes per side or cook the breast whichever other way you prefer. When cool cut it into a small dice where the pieces are no bigger than a kernel of corn.
2. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion, red pepper and garlic and cook slowly for about 4 to 5 minutes until the onion begins to turn translucent. Stir in the chicken and cilantro and all the spices and then remove from heat.
3. Dump this mixture into a bowl and then add the cream cheese and mix well. Next add the cheeses and keep on mixing until it is a pasty consistency.
4. Wrap all of the 7″ tortillas (about 8 to 10 for this amount of filling) in a damp towel and put it in the microwave for 1 minute. Voila, you have nicely warmed and pliable tortillas ready to be filled.
5. Take about 2 tbsp of the filling and shape into something resembling a cigar and put that about 1 inch from one of the edges of the tortilla and then roll it up like a cigar. Try to keep a tight roll so that the end result is as compact as possible. When you near the end of the roll brush the beaten egg over the last bit and then seal it. The egg will help glue it together.
6. When done place all of the chicken wraps in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight. This will ensure that the “egg glue” seals things completely. If you are making these I would recommend doing all of this the night before because it is a lot of work to do on the day of eating if you have other things going on as well.
7. Heat vegetable oil to 350F and fry these, about 4 at a time, for 3 or 4 minutes. You might have to move them around a bit to make sure both sides brown evenly. When done put them on some paper towels to soak up any excess oil.
8. To serve, cut them in half at an angle and place around the avocado-lime dipping sauce. You can also drizzle some of the sauce over all the pieces (I forgot to do this) and then sprinkle a seasoning over them. I used Hy’s seasoning salt but to be more authentic you can use their “Praire Dust” mix:

• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground tumeric
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander

These were really good, a consistent theme with recipes from this book. I wish I wouldn’t have missed that instruction to drizzle the sauce since I felt a little bad about double dipping when Linda wasn’t looking! I will likely make these again but next time I would prepare them the night before – if they were less time consuming I’d make them all the time but they do take a lot of effort for what is essentially an appetizer.