Smoked Chicken and Rajas with Fresh San Marzano Tomatoes

What do you do when a fine neighbor brings an offering from his garden? Perhaps you combine it with an offering from your own for a simple yet satisfying meal.

We have been watching some fine Anaheim Chiles grow in our front yard, evidently a volunteer plant from last year's Chile Ristras that decorated our porch from the holidays. When the tomatoes arrived I decided dinner had to be something that could highlight both.

Hickory and apple wood smoked chicken breasts with New Mexican spices, Rajas and Spanish Rice with refried beans complimented the fresh tomatoes. Rajas are a combination of sauteed onions, garlic, roasted chiles and spices combined with cream that create a rich and delicious dish that can stand alone or compliment Carne or Pollo Asada. I hope you enjoy the recipes below as much as we did.

Smoked Chicken Breast

The chicken breast was prepared with a spicy southwest rub and slow cooked with indirect heat on the grill with apple and hickory wood chips. It is finished by grilling on direct heat till desired appearance and color.

Anaheim Chile Rajas

You can use different peppers or seasonings but this is a good model recipe.

I N G R E D I E N T S
4 medium, fresh Anaheim chiles, roasted and peeled
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2/3 cup crema or whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon - thyme, 1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt

I N S T R U C T I O N S
Chiles: Stem and seed the roasted chiles. You can remove the veins if you want a more mild rajas. Slice the chiles crosswise into 1/4" strips.

Heat the oil in a heavy sauté pan over medium heat and fry the onions until they brown, about 7 -8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chile strips, cook 2 minutes.

Add the cream, herbs, and bay leaves and simmer until the liquid reduces enough to just coat the vegetables. Remove the bay leaves, taste and adjust salt as needed. 

 Rice: 

1 Cup rice
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 Cup diced white onion
1/4 Cup diced green onion
1 clove garlic, diced or minced
1 Tbsp spicy southwest rub or to taste


Coat bottom of skillet with Olive or vegetable oil. Add rice and stir fry for 5 to 7 minutes. Add garlic, diced white onions and diced green peppers and continue to stir until the onions are translucent and the rice may begin to brown. Add one can diced tomatoes (with juice) and lightly sprinkle with seasonings such as spicy southwest rub . Add water to cover rice and simmer with lid until rice is done.

To Finish:
Add refried beans, the fresh sliced San Marzano tomatoes, and sprinkle with grated or crumbled Cotija cheese.

Carne Asada Tacos

One of my favorite things is "street tacos" from my days of traveling down to Baja.

Street tacos are simple, and delicious.

For my version of these tacos, I bought some nice looking Skirt Steak, and mixed up a marinade of the New Mexico Dry Rub added to about a quarter cup of olive oil and some red wine vinegar. I let this marinade soak for about 2 hours.

Heat the grill and add some hickory or mesquite wood chips, and grill until you have a decent char on the steak. Skirt steak is a thin, marbled cut of meat, so be careful not to let it go too hot, too long. Contrary to the way it "should" be done, I usually leave the lid on my Weber kettle grill with a lower temperature to allow the meat to take on more of a smoke flavor.

The meat is then simply chopped/diced and placed into corn tortillas warmed directly on the flame of a stove or on the grill. Add a chopped cilantro/onion garnish (with diced jalepenos added to this if you like more heat), diced tomatoes and some of the Gabriel's guacomole... delicious!

New Mexico-Style Rub

This is probably my favorite rub. I use it on my Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce, and also beef, like skirt steak for Carne Asada.

This recipe is from Karen Putman's "Championship BBQ Secrets for Real Smoked Food", and if you are someone who loves to Barbeque, I would highly recommend this for your library.

New Mexico-Style Rub
For an authentic Southwest flavor, add this mixture to barbequed beans, pork, lamb or beef.

Mix all the following together and store

1/4 Cup chili powder
1tbsp onion powder
1tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper