Taquitos!

When I used to teach school we had these disgustingly fabulous things in the cafeteria called crispitos. They are indescribably bad for you, but I loved them. This is not a recipe for those because I have no IDEA how to make them. I did however come up with a way to make taquitos that have infinitely more flavor than any I've ever had at a Mexican restaurant. And when I say I came up with it, I totally mean Dustin. The best part is the that filling can be made ahead in the crock pot and stored until you need it.

Taquito filling:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4 mild salsa
2 tbs of melted butter
2.5 tbs of cilantro 
juice of one REAL LIME  - don't be using the bottled stuff
1 tbs of chili garlic sauce (you find it in the Asian food section)

Place the chicken in your crock pot with the butter. Mix the salsa, lime juice, cilantro and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. Pour over the chicken. Let it cook for two hours on low. Don't over cook or it will be dry. When it is almost cool, finely shred the chicken. Reserve about 1/4 of a cup of the juice in the crock pot to store with the chicken so it doesn't dry out. You can use more if you think you need it.

When you are ready, fill corn tortillas - the kind that have not yet been fried - and roll. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet. You only need about an inch to an inch and a half in the bottom of the skillet. Get it good and hot. Don't be scared. If your oil isn't hot enough, your taquitos will be greasy. Also make sure you have tongs handy for turning and for rescuing taquitos once they are cooked. Lay the taquitos down on the pan on their flap so they stay closed. Cook for about 1-2 minutes until that side is golden brown. Then turn and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and lay on a plate with paper towels to drain.

We ate ours with avocado halves and sour cream, but you could do Spanish rice and black beans too.
This makes about 8 taquitos. If you need to make more than that, just add chicken breasts to the crock pot!

Tempura asparagus fries

If you hate asparagus but love tempura, I think you should try these! I could eat asparagus anyway but boiled, so I may be biased.  You can also use this batter to coat pretty much any vegetable you like, so feel free to try other things and share your preferences. 

Tempura batter - it's finicky stuff so pay attention to what you are doing
3/4 cup of AP flour
1/4 corn starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup COLD water
1 egg separated - save both parts; you'll be using them
1 lb asparagus washed and patted dry - I recommend the fatter stalked variety.  The thin stalks got a little soggy on us

Mix together the flour, corn starch, and baking soda. Then stir in the cold water and egg yolk.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until it's frothy and add to the batter.  Salt to taste, but go easy because you'll want to sprinkle the fries with salt when you're done too.
In a deep skillet, pour in about two inches of oil and get it very hot. If it's not hot when the asparagus goes in, they will just get greasy and not crispy.  Dust your asparagus in flour before dipping them in batter.  Fry them a few at a time until they are golden brown.  Drain them on a paper towel.  Dust with salt and enjoy!
If you fry more than you can eat in one sitting, you can reheat them in the oven later.  They are a little less than crispy, but still pretty tasty.