4 chicken thighs (I prefer with skin, but it's not critical)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 - 1½ cup light beer
5 garlic cloves, chopped
For the sweet potato puree:
1 medium to large sweet potato, peeled
¼ cup heavy cream
½ tablespoon butter
pinch cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
For the pickled onions:
¾ cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons sea salt
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 dried bay leaf
4 garlic cloves, whole
1 red onion, thinly sliced
*note this makes more pickled onion than is needed for the burritos, but it keeps for a couple weeks in the fridge in a jar.
For the rice:
½ tablespoon butter
½ cup white rice (I used basmati)
½ cup coconut milk
¾ cup water
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
juice from ¼ of a lime
Other accoutrements:
4 slices thick cut bacon
1 cup queso fresco grated
4 tortillas
Instructions
The key to this dish is timing. Ideally, you should make the pickled onions a day ahead of time so they can soak in the fridge overnight. I debated writing out the process for each component separately, but decided against it. I'll walk you through what I think is the best order to do things in, so please, feel free to comment if you try it a different way that works better!
Start with the chicken: mix together salt, chili powder, and cumin. Rub chicken with spices. Heat olive oil in a medium sized dutch oven. Add chicken, and cook until well browned on both sides. Remove chicken, add garlic and ¼ cup of beer. Scrape down the brown bits off the bottom and return chicken to dish. Add in remaining beer so that the chicken is ⅔ of the way submerged. Cover, and simmer on low for 25-30 minutes.
Take a minute to preheat the oven to 400. Place the sweet potato on a baking dish, drizzle with oil, and bake for 45 minutes, or until potato is tender.
To make the pickled red onions: combine vinegar, salt, maple syrup, bay leaf, and garlic cloves in a small pan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Add in red onion and mix well. Remove from heat after 2-3 minutes, put into jar or other container and move to refrigerator. As I mentioned, this can be done days ahead of time.
Next is the rice: melt butter in small pot. Add in rice, stirring to coat. Add in coconut milk and water and cook until rice is tender, about 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cilantro and lime juice.
Next is the bacon, that's the easy part. Fry up bacon in a pan until cooked but not crispy. Remove from heat and cut into small strips.
At this point, the chicken should be about done as well. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool for 10 minutes. Using two forks, shred chicken.
When sweet potato has cooked, remove from oven. Cut into small chucks and place in food processor with melted butter. Start the food processor, and add heavy cream a little at a time. Puree until you have a nice smooth consistency. add cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Adjust cream if necessary.
Finally, all the components are done. Now for the assembly. Heat the tortillas in a large pan until warm. Layer the ingredients in the middle portion of the tortilla, using about ¼ of each per tortilla, in the following order: sweet potato puree, rice, onions, chicken, bacon, and queso fresco.
Tuck the ends of the tortilla in and roll it shut. Cut in half. Serve with a side of salsa (I prefer spicy). Enjoy the amazingness! And please, admit I'm not crazy!
Recipe by Things I Made Today at https://www.thingsimadetoday.com/2013/02/13/the-worlds-strangest-and-most-delicious-burrito/