Southern Fried Chicken Tacos With Bacon Gravy


Ingredients:
buttermilk, kosher salt, chipotle chile in adobo, flour, canola oil, bacon, bacon grease, flour, kosher salt, cracked black pepper, cherry tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, kosher salt, black pepper, white corn tortillas, canola oil

Directions:
To make the marinade, mix the buttermilk and chipotle peppers  in a medium sized bowl and mix to combine.  Add a ¼ teaspoon kosher salt.  Add the chicken tenders and marinade in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.  If you want spicier chicken, you can marinade up to 2 hours.
To make the roasted corn salsa, heat a barbecue grill or grill pan and heat to medium heat.  Spray with a non stick cooking spray.  Grill the corn on all sides until slightly charred but cooked through.  Remove from the grill and cut the kernels off.  In a small bowl, mix together the charred corn kernels, cherry tomatoes, avocado and a pinch of kosher salt and pepper and set aside.
To make the bacon gravy, heat a large sauté pan to medium heat.   Add the bacon and cook until browned and cooked through on both sides. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Once drained and cool, chop the bacon into ½ inch pieces and set aside.  Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon grease left in the sauté pan and heat the pan to medium heat.   Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the pan.  Cook the flour for about 2 minutes, stirring continuously.  Slowly pour in the milk and whisk.  Cook until the gravy thickens up, but not too thick,  about 3-4 minutes.  Add the kosher salt, pepper and the crisp bacon to the gravy and mix.  Turn the heat off the stove but keep the gravy warm.
To fry the chicken,  heat a cast iron skillet or large sauté pan to medium heat.  Add 1 cup canola oil.  Remove the chicken tenders from the marinade and drain.  Discard the marinade.  Put the flour and taco seasoning in a large zip lock bag.  Put the chicken tenders in the flour mixture, close the top of the bag and shake so that the chicken tenders are fully coated with the flour mixture.  Remove the tenders and put on a wire rack for 10 minutes to set up.  Add the canola oil to a large frying pan and heat to medium-high heat.  Test the oil by dropping in a few pinches of flour in the oil to see if it sizzles.  When the oil is ready, put the chicken tenders in to fry.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until the tenders are  light golden brown and cooked through.  When done, remove the chicken tenders from the oil and put on a paper towel lined plate to drain.  Lightly season with kosher salt.
Heat a sauté pan to medium heat and  rub a little canola oil around the pan.  Put one tortilla at a time in the pan and heat for about 30 seconds on each side, or until the tortilla has a little color.  Put aside and keep warm.
Heat the mashed potatoes up by following the directions on the package.  Keep warm.
To make the tacos, spread a nice helping of mashed potatoes on top of the warm tortilla and then put one chicken tender on top.  Drizzle the bacon gravy on top.  Top with the salsa and serve.
**If your chicken tenders are slightly larger than normal, cut the chicken tenders in half lengthways.  Tenders on the taco should be just  a little fatter than your index finger.
Makes 8 tacos or serves 4.