Flautas De Pollo Con Queso

Sami D's Note:

Many people here in the US call them 'Taquitos' they are basically corn tortillas rolled up with, in this case chicken. In this recipe I am also putting cheese in them so that the chicken stays in the tortilla when you are frying them. You can fry them in a skillet with about an inch of oil or you can go with a deep fryer which in my opinion much easier and goes faster. But if you don't have a deep fryer simply do it in a deep frying pan and roll the 'flauta' with a fire resistant tongs carefully so you don't splash the oil and burn yourself. I use wooden toothpicks to keep the 'Flautas' closed while frying. Simply place the toothpick on the flap of the tortilla like you would a pin when you are holding two fabrics together when you are going to sew them together. This Flautas are best eaten along with Refried Bean, Rice, and Guacamole. And of course a side salad if you want to eat something not deep fried or refried =P Note: the prep time is not counting the preparation of boiling and shredding your chicken that takes about 45 minutes depending on how much you are making and how long you wait for it to cool down before shredding it.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 5-6

Yield: 15.0 Flautas

• 4 cooked chicken breasts (boiled and shredded, I use boneless skinless, but any chicken meat will do)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 15 -20 corn tortillas
• 1/2-1 cup vegetable oil
• 15 -20 wooden toothpicks

Directions:

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the boiled shredded chicken and the shredded mozzarella cheese, set aside.
2. On a warmed skillet warm up your tortillas so they are no longer cold or hard, warm them up just enough so that the are soft enough to roll smoothly without them breaking apart on you when you roll them. (NOTE: NEVER warm your tortillas in the microwave this makes the tortillas sticky and they break apart when you try to roll them, you may think its easy but it makes you work twice as much!).
3. Take one warm tortilla and place your chicken/cheese mixture in a straight line down the middle.
4. Take one flap and carefully fold over and try and tuck it under the chicken/cheese.
5. Take the second flap and roll over closing the chicken/cheese in, here use the wooden toothpicks to seal the 'Flauta'.
6. Repeat these steps until you have all of your flautas rolled and sealed. Make sure not to over stuff them or the toothpick wont be able to keep them closed without tearing the tortilla.
7. Heat your vegetable oil up in a deep frying pan about one each of oil will do if you are using a pan on a stove top. (If you are using a deep fryer use the amount that YOU THINK is enough to cover the 'Flautas' when you deep them in the basket.).
8. Place up to 2 flautas at a time in your pan and roll them slowly and carefully until they are gold LIGHT brown on the outside, Take them out and drain them in a bowl lined with paper napkins. As you cook more 'Flautas' the oil goes down, add more oil to pan as needed. (If you are using a deep fryer place from 3 to 5 'Flautas' in the basket and deep them, until you see them turn the light brown color then remove them from the basket and place aside to drain.).
9. Let them all cool down for about 5 minutes and enjoy with Guacamole if you have any available.
10. (OPTIONAL) Brown them a bit more if you want them extra crunchy, if you follow as i stated above they will be a nice soft crunch.