almost tinga de pollo and mango guacamole

Of course the day I decided to go Mexican had to be the day when my fiancé, who works in a Mexican restaurant, went on a week-long road trip to shoot a movie. So there was no response when I asked him "how do you make tinga de pollo at work?". So I had to rely on a recipe from Epicurious and, unfortunately, the limited supplies of the Polish suburbia.

This recipe is pretty good, but I call what came out from that "almost" tinga de pollo, because I couldn't find chipotle en adobo within a 5km radius from my parents' house and I had to use marinated jalapeños. It still turned out great. I served it with mango guacamole, which is totally amazing, especially with such great ingredients as we had:

• 1 super ripe avocado
• 1 ripe mango, diced
• 1 small chili pepper
• juice from 1 lime
• chopped fresh cilantro

Using a spoon scoop the avocado out from its skin and squash it in a bowl using a fork. Add the rest of ingredients, mix thourougly. The end.

Looks Like Shit, But That's Not It #1

Today in Looks Like Shit But That's Not It: Chicken in Black Bean Lava!

There's not much background to this dish: my fiancé likes beans and we try to eat relatively healthy recently, as serious cutting back on booze is not an option. So, here it goes.

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts, about 1lb / 500g
• black beans, soaked and cooked or canned, about 1 can / glass
• 1/2 red onion (or one small)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 chili pepper (or more, if you like it hot)
• 1/2 glass olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Heat the oven to 190C / 375F / gas mark 5

Using a blender, combine the olive oil with chopped onion, garlic and chili (you can also squeeze in a half of lime and/or add some corriander leaves), then add the beans and pulse until at least half of it turns into a smooth paste. Take an oven friendly dish and place the chicken breasts there after rubbing some olive oil, salt and pepper on them. Now, cover them completely with the paste. Roast for about 45-50 minutes, watch an episode of Breaking Bad or something, think of how I went all Walter White on Mexican inspirations. Voila.

Now you can serve your loved ones with a dish that looks truly disgusting, but, surprisingly, the texture and flavour are quite great. The bean coat should be crispy on the outside and soft closer to the chicken. The chicken itself, when I made it, remained soft and moist, as it should be.

PS: the black bean paste itself is a great dip or spread!