My first experience with tequila involved my 25th birthday and my sister buying me a shot.  While I appreciated the gesture, I discovered what bad tequila tastes like.  Fast-forward to 2008 when Nick & I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in Mexico.  We went into a tequila store in Playa del Carmen and were awestruck!  This store had HUNDREDS of different kinds of tequila available for purchase.  Although we walked out empty handed, we did leave with intrigue.  Before our flight home, we hit up the duty free and decided to get a bottle of tequila (because that’s what people do when they go to Mexico).  We had no knowledge of “good brands” or what to look for when choosing a bottle.  We just sort of blindly chose one.  I think we picked it because the bottle looked nice or something…

Anyways, this blind-decision turned out to be a delicious second experience with tequila   We bought books on tequila recipes and really enjoyed testing them out   Now here’s where the cooking portion comes into play.  I just made up this chicken recipe one night; straight out of my head and on to the plate!  Sometimes I do that and it doesn’t turn out and sometimes it’s miraculous!   This Tequila-Lime Chicken is not only miraculous, but extremely delicious so I’ll stop blabbering and tell you how to make it

First, get some tequila.  It doesn’t have to be this kind (although I highly recommend it), just get your favourite stuff that is 100% Agave – not the mixto kind. Trust me on this.

Then smash some cloves of garlic and coriander seeds.  Coriander seeds have this lovely and delicious warm smell to them Then juice a lime, pour a shot of tequila, a hearty splash of good olive oil into a dish and add at least a heaping quarter teaspoon of salt.  Chop up half of a jalapeno (your choice on whether you want to seed it), a small handful of cilantro and throw that all in together.

Mix these ingredients all up and add in your chicken.  Marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours. You can then throw the chicken on the barbeque, or start it in the frying pan and finish it in the oven like I do.  You will notice that I don’t really give exact amounts of ingredients and that’s because I can never remember how much I’ve used before – plus, cooking is personal and it should be to taste.  Once you make it yourself you will figure out what you need more of or less of, etc.

I like to serve this with Cilantro-Lime Rice and Salsa Fresca.  I must give Martha Stewart credit for the rice and The Joy of Cooking for the salsa.  The rice is super easy: make rice as per norm and then when it’s done just add in a tablespoon of lime juice and 1-2 tablespoons of finely chopped cilantro.  The salsa consists of roma tomatoes, white onions, green onions, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice and salt.  It takes a bit of work to chop up finely (don’t use the food processor as it turns it to mush) but it’s totally worth the effort

So….umm… Go make this and tell me if you like it!