Alambres

Over the weekend I bought a package of bacon from Safeway but then I got too lazy to fry up bacon along with the fluffy buttermilk pancakes I made Tony on Sunday. Tuesday I was contemplating what to do with said bacon that was out of the ordinary (I think about food way too much) and  a lightbulb went off in my brain... Alambres!

Alambres are one of those dishes that my Mom never cooked for us and I have only had once or twice my whole life from a mexican restaurant. The name "Alambres" literally means "wires" and this dish is like a stir fry with steak or chicken sauteed with bacon, onions, tomatoes, jalapeno (or if you are like me mushrooms because I have some in my fridge calling my name) and then topped with cheese and served on tortillas. Sounds heavenly right?

 

Make this today, you will thank me.

 

Serves 4

 

What you will need:

7-10 green onions

2 Bell pepper (any color)

1 Jalapeno
5 Mushrooms, optional

1 Roma tomato

1 Chicken Breast

12 OZ Bacon
1-2 Cloves of Garlic, pressed

1 cup shredded Jack cheese

2 TBSP oil

Salt to taste

Tortillas (flour or corn) for serving

 

 

Optional: Sour Cream 

 

1. Start by slicing all your veggies into thin long slices (everything is supposed to resemble "wires"). You may keep the seeds in the jalapenos if you want this spicy, if not remove the seeds. For the green onions, I removed part of the green ends and sliced the green onions lenthwise in half.

I made you this nifty collage... look at me being crafty

 

Mushrooms are everything

 

 

2. Season with salt and slice your chicken into lengthwise 1 inch slices and cut your bacon strips in quarters. Cut your bacon into thinner long slices, keep thinking wires!

 

3. Heat up a large nonstick skillet with 2 TBSP of oil and add your garlic and bacon followed by your chicken. Stir and cook your meat for about 15 minutes until your chicken is no longer pink, your bacon is partially cooked and there's lot's of natural fat and juices sweated out of the meats. Add all your veggies minus the tomatoes, constantly stirring and cook until most of the juices have evaporated and your meat and veggies are soft and slightly browned.

 

This looks about ready to add the veggies...

 

 

Add those veggies...

4. Towards the end of cooking, add your tomatoes. I like to add them at the end so they don't turn into mush and give the Alambres a nice pop of red.

With the tomatoes looking good, I think it's time for cheese...
 

5. Once your Alambres are done top with shredded Jack cheese and allow to melt before serving with warm tortillas and a dollop of sour cream.

 

Close up of the final product!

 

 

Yum.. This came out really yummy especially when you add a dollop of sour cream to your tacos, it sort of balances out the saltiness of the bacon. I made the mistake of not cutting the bacon and the chicken into super long strips to make this look more like wires.
 

This dish can be customized to your liking, you essentially want bacon, meat and veggies sauteed and topped with cheese. Feel like adding more mushrooms, subbing some zucchini or adding some sweet corn? Go for it. The possibilities are endless.

Enjoy!
~Mely