Tom Kitchin recipe: Blackened chicken tacos

I spent some time in Barbados a few years ago and I fell in love with the chicken and blackened spice combo. The avocado with peas is something I picked up in a New York Mexican restaurant later, but it works incredibly well with the chicken.

Ingredients

• 4 free-range chicken breast fillets, each cut into 5 strips
• 100g Cajun spice mix
• a couple of splashes of olive oil
• sea salt
• 200g frozen peas
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lime
• 3 ripe avocados
• 2½ small green chillies, deseeded and very finely chopped
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 200g cherry tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped shallot
• 1 Baby Gem lettuce, shredded
• 100g crème fraîche
• 12 small tacos shells
• sunflower seeds

Serves: 12   Difficulty: Medium   Time to cook: 180 mins

Method

Blackened chicken tacos

1 Place the chicken strips in a non-reactive bowl and add a good sprinkling of spice mix and a splash of olive oil – the spicier you like your food, the more spice mix you should use.

Season lightly with salt, then set aside for 30 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, make the guacamole.

Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil and set a bowl of iced water in the sink.

Add the frozen peas to the boiling water and blanch for 3-5 minutes until tender. Drain them well, then tip them into the iced water to stop the cooking and set the colour.

3 Drain the peas again and transfer to a blender or food processor with about 2 tablespoons of oil, the lime zest and juice and a splash of water.

Season with salt and blend to make a chunky purée. Set aside.

4 Halve the avocados, remove the stones and peel them. Put the flesh in a non-reactive bowl and use a fork to coarsely mash. Add the pea purée, two green chillies and spring onions, and season with salt.

Cover the surface closely with clingfilm and chill for up to 2 hours until required.

5 To make the tomato salsa, put the tomatoes, remaining chilli and shallot in a non-reactive bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Set aside until required.

6 When you’re ready to cook the chicken, heat a large well-seasoned sauté or frying pan over a medium-high heat, then brush the surface with oil.

When it is hot, add as many chicken strips as will fit without over-crowding the pan and fry, turning once, for 4 minutes, until they are cooked through and tender.

Cook in batches, adding a little extra oil, if necessary. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep hot.

7 To serve, divide the shredded lettuce among the taco shells. Top each with a couple of spoonfuls of guacamole, followed by chicken.

Add the tomato salsa and a dollop of crème fraîche to each, then sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve.

• Extract taken from Tom Kitchin’s Meat & Game by Tom Kitchin (Absolute Press, £26)