Pulled Chicken on Pan Fried Corn Cakes with Pickled Radishes

I spend a frightening amount of time watching Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network.  Visions of pulled pork, fresh tacos, salsas and things haunt me into the night.  This is my take on a “Triple D”, crave-worthy dish.  This recipe will leave you with extra pickled radishes to keep in the fridge and use as a topping on meals throughout the week.  You can make the chicken and the pickled radishes a day ahead to save time.  Or you can make just the chicken and prepare it the way you want (see IDEAS below for…well…ideas).  Enjoy!

Makes 1-2 Servings (plus extra pickled radishes)

To make the chicken:

1/4 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 boneless chicken breast
1 cup plain tomato puree
1 1/2 cups full sodium chicken stock
1/4 cup barbeque sauce
1-2 teaspoons Tabasco Sauce (optional)
5-6 dashes red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cracked pepper

Heat olive oil in a small pot, add onion and cook until softened, about 2 minutes.  Add in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Place the chicken in the pot and add in the tomato puree, chicken stock, barbecue sauce, Tabasco Sauce, salt and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper.  Cover the pot with a lid.  If the chicken is not fully submerged in the liquid, add more chicken stock or transfer contents to a smaller pot.  Keep at a low simmer for about 35-40 minutes or until you can easily shred the chicken with a fork.  Transfer chicken to a bowl and shred completely with a fork.  Continue to cook down the liquid in the pot (about 20 minutes) until it thickens and pour about a cup of the sauce over the chicken (or more if desired).  Add red wine vinegar to chicken and mix. 

To make the pickled radishes:

1 bunch radishes (8-9 radishes), sliced finely
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Add all ingredients together, mix and refrigerate until ready to use.  You can keep any extra pickled radish in the fridge for a few weeks and continue to use as a garnish for salads, tacos, meats, etc.






To make the corn cakes:

It’s easy to mistake corn flour and regular corn meal for precooked arepa flour.  A surefire way to know you’re buying the right flour is to look on the back of the bag for an arepa recipe.  If the back of the bag has a polenta recipe on it, you have the wrong one. 

1/2 cup Masarepa yellow corn meal (make sure package says “Precooked”!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
Butter or olive oil for pan frying

Mix corn meal, salt and water together and set aside for 5 minutes.  Form patties about 4-5 inches wide and half an inch thick.  Coat a frying pan lightly with butter or olive oil,  brown the patties on medium-high heat on both sides and transfer to paper towels to soak up excess oil.

To put it all together:

Place an corn cake on a plate, top with a mound of warm pulled chicken and garnish with pickled radishes and perhaps some hot sauce.  Cholula Original is my favorite!

IDEAS

Make only the chicken and serve it on corn tortillas with home made salsa and/or guacamole.
Make only the chicken and serve on buns with extra barbeque sauce.
Calorie friendly: Make only the chicken and radishes and roll them up in butter lettuce for a wrap!
Slice open the corn cakes and stuff with chicken and toppings for a classic arepa style.