Burn, Burn, Burn

Chile Colorado Chicken Couscous

I just knew that couscous cooked in a jammy guajillo chile sauce would work…

A fuckery approach to bring subtle, quiet heat to couscous.

Say it three times:

Chile Colorado Chicken Couscous

Chile Colorado Chicken Couscous

Chile Colorado Chicken Couscous

It’s not fusion, it’s pantry staples! It starts with Maftoul, the Palestinian couscous from Canaan, which is made with heirloom wheat. Traditionally, Maftoul is prepared with chicken stock, tomato sauce, and chickpeas.

I’m a loca, so I start with chile colorado, a Northern Mexican classic salsa used for braising pork or beef for its namesake dish. Colorado means “red-colored,” an apt name for the succulent, stewy guisado of meat, sometimes shredded, sometimes not, in a sauce of pureed rehydrated red chiles without any tomato. Either guajillo or New Mexico chiles work here; you can even use a combo. Both are a deep red color, have bright, fruity notes with subdued earthiness, and contain only mild chile heat so they won’t burn, burn, burn.

I swap the long-cooking meat for couscous and serve it with quick-cooking, juicy chicken thighs that will never fail you. The couscous is thicc and it tastes like the developed flavors you only get from either Knorr Suiza (chicken bouillon) or long cooking methods. But it’s neither! The starch from the couscous thickens the chile colorado sauce without the traditional way of making the sauce, which sometimes calls for adding just a tad of flour to thicken it into a velvety sauce.

Serve with a fork and knife to cut into the oregano-crusted juicy chicken thighs and the caramelized-wanna-be red onions cooked in chicken fat drippings. Sigh. You are free to stop the cooking at your preferred saucy level, but if you prefer a drier scoopable dish, uncover the skillet on step 4, and reduce the sauce to your heart’s desire. If you’re into saucy, follow the recipe as written, and serve with spoons, too.

Zack Bryan, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Kevin Kaarl bringing the sad cowboi emotions on this week’s recipe playlist for you and only for youuuuu.

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