Dust off your sombrero and break out the pinatas! I'm going all Mexican on you here today. I know . . . this is supposed to be The English Kitchen . . . but variety is the spice of life after all . . . and as Mexican as this may be . . . it was cooked in an English kitchen!
Mexican food is one of my favourite treats! Oh, how I love all the warm Mexican spices . . . cumin, coriander . . . chilies.
Just the thought of them can make my tastebuds start tingling and my mouth watering.
Back home there was a tasty little Mexican restaurant that we used to love to go to . . . where the fajitas were served sizzling at your table on your very own cast iron skillet . . . my but they were good. Strawberry margaritas . . . they were good too, but I don't drink those anymore. If anyone knows how to make one without alcohol, I'd be interested!
Anyways, I had some cooked chicken that I needed to use up and I thought why not go all Mexican here. I was in the mood for a real fiesta!
I love chimichangas with their crunchy tortilla wrappings and cheesy, spicy fillings. One of my Mexican favourites for sure . . . along with nachos and burritos and . . . oh my, don't get me started. I love it all!
These tasty chimichangas were the perfect way to use up that leftover chicken. Don't you just love it when you can take something that's already been used and fix it up with a few things to make it all new again? I do!
I have a 72 year old husband so these are somewhat on the tame side. You can of course make them a lot spicier by using a spicy cheese, and adding some hot chilies to the filling. As well, the condiments can be chosen with more heat if desired!
*Chicken Chimies*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe
You can make these even spicier by using a cheese with added jalapeno peppers etc. These are so easy and incredibly tasty! A great way to use leftovers too!
2 large cooked chicken breasts, shredded
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
1 TBS butter
10 (8 inch) flour tortillas
8 ounces shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
6 spring onions, chopped
a handful of pitted black olives, sliced
1 TBS vegetable oil (for cooking)
To serve:
shredded lettuce
sour cream
guacamole
tomato salsa
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and season with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Saute for about 3 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Stir in the chopped spring onion, olives and cheese. Mix well together.
Spoon this mixture evenly onto the centre of the tortillas. Fold up side and roll up burrito style.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the rolled up tortillas and saute on all sides until golden brown all over. Serve on a bed of shredded lettuce and with your choice of toppings. Delicious!
I really do believe Mexican food is my favorite...no offense to my other beloved foods...but it's just become part of me! I remember the first time I ever had a chimichanga...I was with my grandparents at a nice Mexican restaurant in Phoenix...I'll never forget it! Love those chimies!!!
ReplyDeleteHow was your day today? Hope your thoughts and chin are both up and that you're happy amidst all the uncertainty...life is great and it will all be perfect once again--very soon!
Much love to you tonight, as always, my dear friend! I'll talk to you tomorrow!
What a fun recipe! Thanks, Marie!
ReplyDeletexoxo Pattie
mmmmmmm, yummo.We can always count on you Marie to make us hungry!Take care, thinking of yoU♥♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteThese look terrific, Marie! My hubby would love this... chicken, you know! ;o) Will think how to do some veggie one for me... Happy Day, dear friend--LOVE YA ((BIG HUGS))
ReplyDeleteThis is a new one on me but sounds sooooo tempting. Mexican food isn't a cusine I've explored much of, must start I think!
ReplyDeletechicken chimichangas are my favorite! mexican food is too! :) thanks for sharing this recipe marie!
ReplyDeleteI love Mexican food and often order chimichangas when we go out. I never thought to try to make them myself, but now I will. This looks sooooooo delicious.
ReplyDeleteMexican food is very popular in the UK, and just like curry it deserves a place in your English Kitchen. I just love Mexican food, first tasted it in 1980 when I went to California for my 21st Birthday, came home with a Sunset Mexican Cookbook and have been making it ever since. Looks like a great recipe.
ReplyDeleteOrigins
ReplyDeleteDebate over the origins of the chimichanga is ongoing:[4][5]
According to one source,[6] the founder of the Tucson, Arizona, restaurant El Charro, Monica Flin, accidentally dropped a pastry into the deep fat fryer in 1922. She immediately began to utter a Spanish curse-word beginning "chi..." (chingada), but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimed chimichanga, the Spanish equivalent of thingamajig.[7] Fortuitously, the euphemism was a well understood Indianism for the standard Spanish "chango quemado", meaning "broiled monkey", which the chimichanga resembles.
A Chimichanga with refried beans and rice served at an Illinois restaurant.Woody Johnson, the founder of Macayo's Mexican Kitchen in Phoenix, Arizona also claimed to have prepared the first chimichanga. According to Johnson, he created the dish in 1946 by throwing some unsold burritos from his El Nido restaurant into a deep fryer and serving them to customers who arrived later in the day. The fried burritos were popular, and became a permanent fixture on the menu once Johnson opened Macayo's in 1952.[5].
Although no official records indicate when the dish first appeared, retired University of Arizona folklorist Jim Griffith recalls seeing chimichangas at the Yaqui Old Pascua Village in Tucson in the mid-1950s.[
Oh Marie, you know how I LOVE chicken chimis!! These looks so good!I think you've struck a cord (once again) with a lot of your readers. Who doesn't enjoy a great mexican meal?! Happy Weekend to you! xoxo, Rachel
ReplyDeleteI live in Southern California and you chimis look as tasty as any you can buy here.
ReplyDeleteI make alcohol free margaritas for my kids, very easy and tasty. If you have frozen limeade in your stores start with that. I use the juice of 4 fresh limes( I have a tree)about 1 cup of juice, sugar to taste, my kids like them tart, what ever fruit you want, strawberries, mangoes, peaches, pineapple and ice to fill the blender 3/4 full. Toss everything in the blender add water as needed to keep your blender moving. Puree until smooth. You can use frozen fruit if you want.
Mimi
I've never had anything Mexican, apart from that good old English standard Chilli con Carne which I;m told Mexicans never heard of! A bit like the Swiss don't know about Swiss Rolls and the Germans don't really do Black Forest Gateau. These sound lovely.
ReplyDeletemarie I am in heaven, i have been away from my blog followings for a bit and have just been scrolling through your posts and favouriting as always but this is so good, I love Mexican and love chimmies, only ever having eaten them on the merican bases when they have open days. I love you for printing this and also the lamb and middle eatern patties.
ReplyDeleteThanks