I heard sad news that Baldy’s in Iowa City closed about two years ago (news travels slow out to SF). I ate many wraps there and at one point was a regular before my 9:30 M/W/F Calc II class. Nothing primes the mind for learning about integration like a heavy breakfast. Their happy hour was the best and Ass Masterson had some run-ins with the football and basketball team. In fact, I think there might be a Pierre Pierce story in there somewhere too.
In any case, from the bacon-ranch cheeseburger wrap to the breakfast special wrap, nothing came close to the Blackened Cajun Chicken. For years, i’ve tried to reproduce it, and now since I’ve heard they closed, I’ll release my version which is about as close as it’s going to get.
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 box of Zatarain’s black beans and rice (do NOT get the red beans)
1 package of medium flour tortillas
1 bottle of hot sauce. I love Cholula
2 tablespoons of blackening seasoning. I use this stuff or you can roll your own
2 tablespoons of paprika
Pepper jack cheese
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Here’s what to do: Preheat your oven to 350.
Make the black beans and rice to instructions. Slowly simmer it and you don’t want a soupy consistency. If it comes out soupy, keep it on low heat and stir until the extra moisture is gone. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes before using. The test is whether or not juice runs out of the final product. If you have a runny wrap, you had too much liquid in the beans.
While the beans are cooking, get a cast iron skillet (don’t get no pansy ass non-stick, go buy one if you don’t have one). Put the heat to it for a good 5-10 minutes to get it nice and hot. Cover the chicken breasts with a good dose of blackening seasoning and give it a 5 minute rest. Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and dip the chicken into the oil to get a light covering and put each piece in the cast iron skillet leaving room around the pieces. Brown for a few minutes on each side (keep checking, you want them dark brown but not completely burned).
The chicken breasts won’t cook through on the skillet so after blackening the chicken, stick the skillet in the oven and check the temp every 10 minutes or so to make sure the breasts are cooked through. When the temp hits 180, pull them and let rest on a plate for 10 minutes. Cut the chicken breasts into slices, you don’t want big hunks.
Get a griddle or large skillet (this can be non-stick if you want) and warm it up over low heat. Place a tortilla on the skillet and add the cheese (out of a “standard” brick I cut two thin slices, but you can do this to taste). Get a spoon and put about 1/3 of a cup of rice on the tortilla. The idea is not to fill it too big. Get your paprika shaker and cover it with a good dose of paprika, in fact, there should just be a layer of the stuff on the beans. Put a few slices of chicken on top and add a few drops (to taste) or your hot sauce. Use a spatula and slide the whole thing on a plate and fold the tortilla. It should be slightly crispy on the outside but still flexible.
Optional: wrap it in aluminum foil and wash down with a pitcher of PBR from Joe’s
Photo: Slicing the chicken after it’s finished cooking:
