Coriander Chicken Tostadas with Refried Beans and Grilled Fennel!

Ok, this picture does not really show you anything about this dish, but I would give this recipe a solid B. Good but not so good as to be real memorable. The homemade refried beans are nice but I should have replaced the chipotles- which I omitted due to my loathing of them- with jalapeno. However, Tabasco green sauce was a solid last-minute add. The grilled fennel was yum, coriander chicken very yum, but I felt the tostada base left something to be desired. Here is where I would, were I to make this again, put everything on top of the coriander-cilantro flatbreads I considered making last night but ran out of time for tonight. They are insanely good and would be a terrific replacement for the lowly tostada shell. If anyone wants the recipe for those, lemme know.

My accompanying wine was a solid choice, in my opinion. Basa Rueda, a Spanish white that I previously served with a pretty delicious smoked trout risotto (thank you Florence Fabricant and Eric Asimov of NYT Dining), and we are steadily making our way through. Was it a mistake that I signed up for a 9:30am Bikram yoga class tomorrow?

Ok, off to watch something. Bill Maher, it’s your night!! Rock on!