General Tso’s Taco Bake. New Music From Another Crush.

I fall into an internet hole on a regular basis. I’m searching for something which makes me think of something else and then something else interesting shows up….BOOM! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up. No, really I can…but I’ve lost an hour or two in the process.

Which explains why I found “I Suck At Cooking”—that deliciously creative YouTube channel.

I got today’s recipe from the Food Network cooking show “The Kitchen”. I record it on the DVR and watch it while I am hopping into that rabbit hole. It’s an entertaining program and I usually learn of an interesting recipe or two that I want to try.

I intended to start this post with a video clip from “The Kitchen”, but didn’t come up with anything great. About 50 clicks later into my search I found the video above. Worthwhile, but that is an hour I will never get back. :)

Let’s talk General Tso’s Taco Bake.

Mash-up recipes are some of my favorites since they pair dishes I love in unexpected ways. Here tacos get the General Tso treatment.

The General Tso style gives chicken a sweet and slightly spicy flavor with a kick from garlic and ginger. The coated chicken is tucked into taco shells and baked under a blanket of pepper Jack cheese. To further add to the fun, a lively, crisp cabbage slaw flecked with pickled ginger tops them off.

Bonus: The baked taco method makes it super easy to feed a crowd.

General Tso’s Taco Bake

Ingredients:

Cabbage Slaw (recipe follows)
Crema (recipe follows)
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup apricot jam
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili-garlic paste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
3 cups chopped skinless rotisserie chicken
10 taco shells
1 1/2 cups grated pepper Jack cheese
Garnish: Lime wedges, fresh cilantro leaves, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375℉.

2. Stir together the hoisin, apricot jam, rice vinegar, soy sauce, chili-garlic paste, sesame oil and ginger in a large bowl. Set aside about a third of the sauce in a small bowl. Add the chicken to the large bowl and toss to coat the chicken in the sauce.

3. Arrange the taco shells in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Fill with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with the grated pepper Jack.

4. Bake until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 10 minutes.

5. Top tacos with the slaw and crema and serve with lime wedges, cilantro leaves, a sprinkling of white and black sesame seeds and a drizzle of the reserved sauce.

Serves 4 to 6 (doubles easily)

Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped pickled ginger plus 1 tablespoon pickling liquid
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
6 cups finely shredded green cabbage
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 green onions, sliced
1 Fresno or jalapeño chile, halved, and thinly sliced
Kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Whisk together the rice vinegar, pickled ginger and liquid, soy sauce and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, cilantro, scallions and chile and toss well. Season with salt if needed. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Crema

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons chili-garlic paste
Juice of 2 limes
Kosher salt

Directions:

1. Stir together the sour cream, chili-garlic paste and lime juice in a small bowl, Season with salt. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipes from Food Network

Remember that internet rabbit hole I droned on about earlier?

I opened my music submission email folder and the second message from the top read: ‘Hear “It Sucks” – our brand new single!’

Sucks!

Yes!!!

I love when I can somehow tie things together in my post in some sort of way.

Only problem is I couldn’t find a link to share the song other than YouTube…and I have already spent waaaaay too much time surfing the web today.

So here is the video link to “It Sucks”, new from Another Crush who describes themselves as “A fuzzy peach tidal wave of massive alt rock based in Hamilton, Ontario”.

It’s a great song and I think you will like it while eating your taco or scrolling (for hours?) through Instagram.