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1
Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, chili powder (spicy if you've got it) and ground cumin.
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2
Heat a pan over medium high heat with some butter and throw the thighs in skin side down.
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3
While the skin is crisping, add some lime juice.
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4
Once the skin is crisp and dark golden brown, flip the thighs and squeeze in some more lime juice
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5
Add a full beer, turn it down to a simmer and wait for the beer to reduce down into a delicious looking sauce that coats the chicken.
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6
Turn off the heat and set the chicken aside, reserving the sauce.
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7
Once it's cool enough to touch, shred it down to bite size pieces and pull out all the skin, bones and extra fatty bits and gristle.
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8
Editor's note: that beer braised chicken you just made?
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9
It's good for lots of stuff, not just this recipe.
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10
I use it for tacos all the time.
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11
And if you want to seriously wow your guests, throw those chicken skins onto a griddle or into a skillet and crisp them up, and use those as a topping instead of tortillas strips on your chili.
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12
Now onto the chili base.
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13
Put your tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and garlic into the pan you cooked your chicken in.
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14
Once they starts to turn a little translucent, add half the other bottle of beer and cook the veggies down.
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15
Once they're soft, add the cilantro, remove from heat to cool for a few minutes, then blend with an immersion blender.
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16
You can also use a regular blender, then return to the pan.
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17
Add the chicken, the other half of the beer and the black beans and simmer for about 10 minutes.
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18
Turn off the heat and stir in the Cotija cheese.
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19
Serve over white rice with avocado, sour cream and tortilla strips...or crispy chicken skin choose your own adventure!
