Rich was in the mood for Gorditas, and in a strange turn of post-Thanksgiving logic, thought that chicken would be a nice change of pace… Teh chicken was a non-issue, I sliced some boneless and skinless thighs into strips, tossed ’em in a bag with buttermilk to cover, and stashed it all in the fridge for a few hours while I set out to find a Gordita kit.
THAT, was a problem. No kits at any of the stores I checked, so I came home with a hard/soft taco kit instead.
The thing is, that SAUCE is what really makes the Gordita so appealing (at least, to us). As it happens, I do have a recipe for making my own Gordita Sauce, and it’s not too, too bad – if I do say so myself; but I’ve also been playing around with this – my next generation version of this oh! so tasty little condiment.
This version is based on Chip Dip Seasoning from The Spice House in Milwaukee, but you could use Ranch seasoning as well.
INGREDIENTS
•3/4 cup sour cream
•1/4 cup mayonnaise
•2 tsp Chip Dip Seasoning
– or Ranch Dip Seasoning
•2 tsp Aleppo pepper*
•2 tsp taco sauce
•1 tsp dried parsley
•1 tsp dried chives
•1 tbsp milk (if needed)
*Aleppo is one of my very favorite go-to ingredients for adding just a little bit of smoky heat to a dish, and it is well worth searching out. If you can’t, or don’t care to, try adding 1/4 to 1 tsp of chile powder, Cayenne, and/or crushed red pepper in its place, but taste to adjust the heat level to your liking.
Combine all the ingredients (except for the milk) in a bowl, then cover and chill.
When ready to serve, prepare your fillings and go to town! Rich likes to drizzle his on top of his Gordita/Taco, while I like to spread the sauce on the inside of the tortilla and then fill. Using the soft/hard taco combo worked well with this method, since the sauce helped to stick the hard taco to the soft flour wrapper.
Yum.
Bowing to the season, I also added a bit of cranberry chipotle sauce to the bottom of my taco before adding the chicken and the rest of the fillings – I went with fresh tomato, onion, jalapeño, and sautéed red and yellow peppers. Rich also added cheese and sour cream to his.
And speaking of the season, I had some of my regular cranberry relish left over, and STILL some turkey from Golnaz and Mehran’s feast on Thursday, so I grabbed both, a couple of King’s Hawaiian Rolls from the packet and my new Gordita-ish sauce…
What a NICE sammich!
Turkey, that pop! of cranberry relish, the sweet Hawaiian rolls, and, at the base, this truly fine and tasty sauce.
Yum.
I truly believe I like Thanksgiving more for the leftovers than the feast itself.
Of course, there is still some cranberry, rolls, and sauce left in the fridge, so mebbe one, last lunch, and then for the rest of the sauce?
How about a dip? (ermmm, not the cranberries, tho’).