My cousin recently moved to NYC and I wanted to cook one of her favorite home cooked meals – so I naturally reached out to her mom to see how she made her chicken flautas and yellow rice. It had been years since I made a flauta and I wasn’t as confident in my flauta-preparing skills. A couple of texts and a call later I jotted down enough notes to head me in the right direction. I love following recipes and making them my own, so I will do my best to provide the approximate measurements. Here is what is needed:

Recipe

Flautas
// 4-5 bone in chicken hind legs
// 3/4 tablespoon of Lemon pepper
// 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
// 1 tablespoon of Garlic powder
// 2 tablespoons of Adobo
// 2-3 bay leaves
// Corn tortillas
// Canola oil
// Shredded cheese
// 3-4 packets of Sazon with Coriander and Annato

Yellow Rice
// 3 cups of white rice
// 3 cups of chicken broth (use the broth from the chicken you boiled)
// 2 packets of Sazon with Saffron

Salsa
// 1 can of Ro-tel original tomatoes and green chilies
// 1 can of Ro-tel mild tomatoes and green chilies
// 2-3 cloves of garlic
// 1 small green bell pepper
// 1/2 white onion
// 1 cup of cilantro
// Handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
// 1 juiced lime
// Salt
// Oregano
// Pepper

Prepare chicken: Mix the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and Adobo in a bowl. Pat your chicken hind legs dry and begin rubbing the seasoning mix all over them. Throw them in a large stock pot and cover them with water. Throw in the bay leaves and begin boiling. Let the chicken boil for 2 hours and then turn it down to a simmer for an additional 20 minutes.

Prepare salsa: Give your green bell pepper and white onion a rough chop and throw them in a food processor. Don’t blend just yet. Open your cans of Ro-tel and throw those in as well. Then add the garlic, cilantro, tomatoes. Juice one lime over the unblended ingredients. Sprinkle a little oregano and add salt and pepper to your liking. Press blend. I like to put it on high at first and then pulse it at low since I prefer chunkier salsa. Set to the side.

Once the chicken hind legs are complete take them out with some tongs and set them on a large cutting board. Let it cool and begin to shred them with two forks. Move chicken to a mixing bowl and let it chill for a minute. Pour out the stock in a bowl with a strainer to catch all of the loose ingredients you cooked beforehand. Empty the Sazon packets with coriander and annatto and add 1/2 cup of the chicken stock so that the seasonings evenly coat the chicken.

Prepare yellow rice: Put a little canola oil in a pot and add 3 cups of rice on medium heat and cook for a few minutes. Then add 3 cups of the chicken stock you prepared. Lower the heat to low and cover and cook for 20 minutes – or until rice is fluffy.

Prepare flautas: Warm 10-15 corn tortillas up in the microwave for 20 seconds. This loosens them a little so it’s not hard to roll them. Begin to roll chicken and cheese into a flute shaped taco. One tortilla at a time. The more chicken you put in it the thicker the flauta gets. I found that I prefer thinner flautas so I changed my approach half way through. Stick a toothpick or two on the opposite side of where the fold ends so you can place that flap face down when frying – closing up the flauta. After one side has browned you can remove the toothpick and flip to cook the other side. Fill. Roll. Fry. Repeat.

It’s flauta time! Once your flautas and yellow rice are ready it’s time to eat. Salsa, sour cream and queso are great for pairing with your Mexican dish. I also included a garden salad, with tomatoes and cucumbers, when I served it to my family. Flautas are great the next day as well – just roll and fry them!