Tinga Poblana with Chicken

The Saturday after Thanksgiving SP decided he wanted to try something new for dinner. He looked through the William-Sonoma Mexican cookbook, found a recipe he wanted to make and then went to a Mexican grocery to get ingredients. The recipe he picked was Tinga Poblana with Chicken, which we had as tacos:


The tinga was a mix of shredded chicken, onions, garlic, chorizo, tomatoes and chipotle:


The recipe suggested serving the tinga with rice, so SP cooked the rice in the broth leftover from poaching the chicken thighs:


Since we had the tinga in tacos we needed fixings, including softened tortillas, crumbled queso fresco, minced white onion and diced avocado:


The tinga was fantastic. The chicken was moist and tender and went fabulously with the creamy avocado and the crunch of the onion. A little sour cream cooled the heat from the chipotle. We ate way more of this then we should have, but the flavor was fantastic and addictive.

Tinga Poblana with Chicken
William-Sonoma Mexican Cookbook

1 lb bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (DON'T substitute with chicken breasts or boneless, skinless!)
1 white onion, 1/2 cut into large cubes, 1/2 finely diced
4 cloves garlic, 2 smashed, 2 minced
Salt
1 tablesooon cooking oil
1/2 lb chorizo, casings removed and crumbled
1 can chopped tomatoes (if in juice, drain. If in sauce, don't drain)
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
2 bay leaves
2 canned chipotles en adobo with 1 tablesoon sauce, diced (we used half this amount and it was plenty spicy)

Garnishes:
mince white onion
diced avocado
sour cream

Place the chicken, onion chunks and smashed garlic in a saucepan and add water to cover. Add 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the chicken is opaque throughout, 20-30 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a plate. Reserve the broth. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard any skin or fat or bones and coarsely shred the meat with your fingers or a fork.

In a large frying pan or Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil. Add the chorizo and fry for about 5 minutes. Remove the excess rendered fat. Add the finely chopped onion, garlic and saute until beginning to soften, but not yet starting to brown, about 1 minute. Add about 1 cup of the reserved chicken broth, deglaze the pan. Add the shredded chicken, tomatoes, oregano, bay leaves and chiles. Stir until blended. Simmer, uncovered, until the flavors are blended, about 15 minutes. Add more broth to the pan if the mixture begins to stick, but do not add too much; the mixture should absorb the liquid and not be runny. Remove and discard the bay leaves and season to taste with salt.