Pollos Mutantes

Pollos Mutantes is our current favorite treatment for chicken breasts - sweet, spicy and smokey, with a solid Southwest tang that pairs well with corn, beans and rice and grilled vegetables. I cooked it so often last summer that I eventually made the spice mixture one of my stock rubs, ¡Tres Mutantes!

Make sure to go heavy on the rub - you'll get a nice crust, and a burst of flavor. And do let the chicken rest for a couple of minutes after grilling, so your bird will be juicy and delicious.

Leftover Pollo Mutantes makes great sandwiches and salads, and surprisingly good soup - I usually make twice what I think we'll eat, just to have some on hand.

This recipe also works well with fish, though you may want to cut back on the amount of rub for small filets or mild fish such as Tilapia.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbl olive oil
2-4 Tbl ¡Tres Mutantes! rub
1 lime

Brush chicken breasts with olive oil, then season heavily with ¡Tres Mutantes! and drizzle with half of the lime juice.

Cover and let rest for 30 minutes, for the flavors to intensify.

Grill over high heat for a few minutes per side, then allow to rest, loosely covered, for 5 minutes.

Top with more lime juice and serve immediately. Garnish with sour cream, cilantro, jack cheese - whatever you like. Nice with beans and rice and tortillas or chips. Better yet with fresh sweet corn!

Smoked Tri-Tip

I hadn’t heard of a tri-tip roast until moving to California a few years ago - it’s a triangular cut of beef also called the bottom sirloin, usually weighing in at between two and three pounds. Tri-tip is funny-looking, but quite tasty - a cross between a sirloin steak and a roast - and really shines on the smoker, though it’s also good grilled.

1 tri-tip roast (2.5-3 pounds)
1/4 cup tri-wizard rub

24 hours before cooking: Trim the fat cap, if desired. Rub the tri-tip well with the tri-wizard mixture, making sure you get it into all the nooks and crannies. Cover with plastic wrap or pop into a zip-top bag and refrigerate overnight, or at least a couple of hours.

1 hour before cooking: Take the tri-tip out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Preheat your smoker or grill.

Smoke at 225F for 4 hours or until the internal temp reaches about 140F for medium rare. I like a combination of hickory and pecan woods.

If you don’t have access to a smoker, sear on a hot (500F) grill for up to 5 minutes per side, then move it off of the flame and continue to cook for about 15 minutes at medium (350F) until the internal temp reaches about 140F for medium rare.

Use tongs to put your beautiful tri-tip on a serving platter, cover it loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to sit for at least ten minutes before carving.

Tip: it’s just as easy to make two, and the leftovers make terrific sandwiches.

Get Your Adobo On

What's an adobo? Good question. Depending on where you ask, adobo may generically mean "sauce" or "marinade" or a meal created with such a sauce (in Mexico and the Carribean) or specifically mean the national dish of the Philippines. Adobos vary quite widely in taste and ingredients, but most rely on marinating meats in a highly seasoned concoction.

My adobo is a Cuban-style marinade adapted from a recipe in Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue! Bible. I've tweaked the spices a bit, keeping notes on what works and what doesn't, until the recipe found a sweet spot. It's very easy to prepare and has won rave reviews from coast to coast.

This recipe will marinate and generously baste six boneless chicken breast halves and a nice sirloin steak. If in doubt, go easy on the marinade and reserve some adobo for basting.

1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice (about 4 large limes)
1/4 cup olive oil
12 medium cloves garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt (or more to taste)
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon Tabasco or Garlic Tabasco (optional, but highly recommended)

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until the garlic is completely liquefied. Save about half of the adobo for basting (put it in the fridge), use the rest to marinate chicken, beef, pork, fish or vegetables for 1 - 8 hours before grilling.

Tip: Use zipper sealing plastic bags for marinating - they do a better job of coating the meat and there's no clean up.

Don't forget to baste! Use a brush or spoon to keep your grillables moist and create a tasty caramelized crust.

Serve your adobo with grilled veggies (onions and sweet peppers are the norm in our house), black beans & rice and warm flour tortillas. Offer lots of fresh cilantro, sour cream and shredded cheese as garnishes, if you like. I like a nice Mexican beer with adobo, but a spicy red wine also goes well.