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  Braised Chicken Tacos with Cracklins

  

• 1

  Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towel if necessary. Remove the skin from each thigh in one piece. Lay the skins flat on a rimmed baking sheet. Lightly season the skins with salt and refrigerate uncovered until ready to cook.

• 2

  Put the thighs in a bowl, add the olive oil and the Tex-Mex Rub and toss to coat.

• 3

  Heat one zone to high and another to medium. Add the enchilada sauce to a Dutch oven or similar heavy-duty pot and heat it on the high zone.

• 4

  Drizzle or squirt the canola oil over the medium heat zone and use a spatula to spread it evenly. Place the chicken thighs skinned side down and cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3 minutes. (The thighs will not be cooked through at this point.)

• 5

  Transfer the thighs to the pot with the sauce and scrape the zone where they cooked clean. Cover the pot. Turn the heat in both zones down to low and braise the chicken until it is fall-off the-bone tender, about 1 hour.

• 6

  While the chicken is braising, line a plate with paper towel. Pat the chicken skins dry with more paper towel. Transfer the skins to the low zone so they lie flat. Pressing down on them with a spatula periodically to keep them from curling, cook the skins until nicely browned on one side, about 7 minutes. Flip and cook until crisp and browned on the other side, about another 7 minutes. Transfer the skins to the paper-towel lined plate. Let cool, then chop or crumble and reserve.

• 7

  When tender, remove the thighs from the sauce and turn the heat off under the pot. Remove the meat from the bones and shred it. Return the meat to the sauce and leave the pot on the griddle to keep warm while you assemble and cook the tacos.

• 8

  Set the temperature in a zone without the pot medium and heat for 10 minutes. Drizzle with oil and evenly spread to coat.

• 9

  Working quickly, dip one side of a tortilla into the enchilada sauce to coat and place sauce side down on the medium heat zone. Continue until you have 6 to 9 tortillas on the griddle (or however many you feel you can cook at one time).

• 10

  Sprinkle a small handful of cheese over each tortilla then top with about 2 tablespoons of the shredded chicken. Cook for about 2 minutes to melt the cheese. Fold each tortilla in half and remove from grill. Repeat until you have used up all the tortillas or chicken.

• 11

  Open the tacos and fill with any desired accompaniments, such as pico de gallo, onion, sour cream, cilantro, and/or a squeeze of lime. Add some cracklins, refold, and serve. (Alternatively, serve the tacos with the cracklins and other accompaniments on the side and let folks fill their tacos as they like.) Enjoy!