Coriander Chicken Tostadas with Refried Beans and Grilled Fennel! Ok, this picture does no

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!