Poblanos Stuffed with Cheddar and Chicken

You say Poblano, I say Pasilla (Pah-SEE-YA).   They are one in the same, I recently discovered--at least, in California grocery stores.  (I found a blogger who clears up the confusion here.)  I love Mexican food, but I can't handle really a lot of spicy heat.  Poblano peppers are perfect, because they are rather mild once they are cooked.

My inspiration to make this recipe comes from "Fine Cooking."  The original recipe boasts that it's a quick (and great) way to use leftover chicken.  I didn't have any, and so I decided to make my own shredded chicken.  I chose chicken thighs, because they are a good price.  For flavor I added bay leaves, whole peppercorns and my homemade Mexican spice (you could use taco seasoning).  If you have a Trader Joe's near you, I like these reduced-sodium chicken flavor concentrates (no MSG).  You could use plain water, though.

I let the chicken simmer for about an hour, let it cook enough to pull apart and shred.  I saved the cooking broth. Done.

I cooked one cup of brown rice, using the chicken broth.  Mmmm, good.  (Set aside.)

Slit the chiles from stem to tip and set on the baking sheet. Broil, turning every few minutes, until blackened all over, 5 to 8 minutes. Let cool slightly, peel off the skins, and cut out the seed cores, leaving the stems on. Rather than turning the chiles inside out, a spoon cleaned out any remaining seeds.

The fresh tomato sauce was the best part of this recipe, IMO. It was so good, that I wish I had doubled it-- so, take my advice!

You need fresh cilantro.  If you hate cilantro, leave it out (or use parsley). 

I used fresh Roma  tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt ...

..and pureed it in a food processor. 

Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the chicken and rice, and then 1 cup of the cheese, the cilantro, and the lime juice.

Season to taste with salt.  Delicious! 

Divide the filling among the peppers, wrapping the sides of the peppers up and around the filling, some of which will still be exposed.

Broil the peppers until the cheese is melting and the top is beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Top with the remaining 1 cup cheese and broil until the cheese is completely melted, about 2 minutes.

TASTING NOTES:  Because I made my own shredded chicken, this took about 2 hours to prepare.  Using leftover chicken and/or rice would definitely be a time saver. On the other hand, the shredded chicken was moist and flavorful.  The leftover filling for the stuffed peppers can be used to make burritos or even enchiladas.  As for the tomato sauce, I would make this part of the recipe again and again.  It was fresh tasting, and perfectly seasoned. The cinnamon was subtle, and the peppers weren't over-the-top hot. Love.  I served this recipe with black beans.  Muy Bueno.  I can see making this as a vegetarian dinner, by omitting the  chicken, and using black beans and rice as the stuffing.   I will, definitely, make this again.

 A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.

Enjoy!

 

Migas for Breakfast (The Homesick Texan)

Before I share this Tex-Mex breakfast, let me post my disclaimer right away: Except for a cross-country trip, in 1976, where I found myself white-knuckling through Dallas during rush hour, I have never been to Texas-- I've been through Texas.  Literally.  I've made a few plane connections at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport, but I've never had the pleasure of sight-seeing the many Texas places-to-see that I've read about.  Someday...

I've been a loyal reader of Lisa Fain's foodblog "The Homesick Texan", for quite a while.  I impressed with her friendly and approachable food blog persona-- she even responds to comments! I always appreciate bloggers who take the time to interact with their followers.

For that reason, I bought Lisa's cookbook, that is titled the same as her food blog.   I have bookmarked so many of her recipes, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading her stories about her life in Texas.  Like my disclaimer says, while I haven't eaten authentic Tex-Mex food in the Home State where it is proudly served--  I can personally attest to how easy and delicious her Chili Gravy recipe is (from her blog), because I made it for my  Cheese and Onion Enchiladas.  If you love the flavors of Mexico, get the book!

 Star ingredients: jalapeno, onion, garlic, cilantro-- and my own leftover tomatillo salsa verde

On Saturday mornings, I much prefer to make a breakfast with eggs.  That's the day that Craig and I have to do our weekend chores, and I need protein to get me going.  I'd never heard of Migas, before, but according to Lisa--

"If you’ve ever had breakfast in Austin, chances are you’ve had a plate of migas. This dish of eggs scrambled with fried corn tortilla strips, salsa and cheese is ubiquitous in some of the Texas capital city’s most popular breakfast spots, including Las Manitas where it’s almost a crime not to order their marvelous migas. I have fond memories of spending lazy mornings in this bustling Congress Avenue diner, scooping spoonfuls of the crunchy, cheesy eggs and bacon-laced refried beans into fluffy flour tortillas. There’s no better way to start the day."

The picture of this dish, in her cookbook is mouth-watering.  I had to make this! I used a combination of cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and leftover corn tortillas (we do love our Taco Tuesdays).

For the eggs:  Beat 6-8 eggs (I used six), about 1/4 cup milk, salt, pepper and 1/2 tsp ground cumin, and about 1/4  cup of fresh cilantro.

In my beloved cast-iron skillet, I heated about a half-inch of vegetable oil and fried the cut tortilla strips; cook them for about 2 minutes, remove and place on paper towels. Set aside. Pour out most of the oil.

Saute the onion and jalapeno (NOTE: Lisa uses four jalapenos, but I used only half of ONE jalapeno), until tender-- about 5 minutes, then add the garlic and cook just until fragrant--about 30 seconds.

DISCLOSURE:  I made this recipe TWICE, on separate weekends.  With all due respect to the author, my first attempt didn't quite work, to my expectations-- per the cookbook.  I'll explain why at the end, and will show you how I had better success on attempt #2.  MY WAY, TAKE TWO: add the eggs....

Cook the eggs, on medium-low until partially cooked...

...add the cooked tortilla strips.

Add about half the cheese; give this a gentle stir to combine.

This step is completely optional: I wanted to use leftover salsa verde, and it was refrigerated. I don't like adding cold salsa to hot food, so I added some salsa over the mixture.  Preheat the broiler, with the rack on high and broil for about one minute-- until the cheese is bubbly and melted.

Breakfast is ready!

TASTING NOTES, TAKE ONE: The first time I made this recipe, I thought the flavors were good. Personally, I thought the textures weren't quite right.  In the cookbook recipe, the instructions say to cook the eggs for about a minute, then add the cheese and to gently stir.  Problem:  Cheese plus gooey eggs = gooey, gloppy eggs.  No bueno!  Plus, when the tortilla strips got added to the gooey, gloppy cheese/egg mixgure, they got soggy.   

I'm not one to give up on a recipe that has promise.  So, my adaptions were to cook the eggs more,  then add the tortilla strips, to let them retain more of a crispy texture.  Then I added half the cheese, to melt into the egg-tortilla mixture.  By broiling the remaining cheese, I got the creamy-melted texture I wanted.  Bingo!!

 In a way, Migas reminds me of Nachos, but the eggs makes this a perfect, hearty breakfast.  I can see lots of possibilities with this recipe that can be personalized to your own taste. Lisa says that you can add crumbled Mexican chorizo, chopped poblanos or anything else. If I had any refried beans, I'd definitely want to try adding those.  I garnished this with sour cream, green onion and cilantro. If I had a ripe avocado, yep, that would be added to it.    I only wish I had flour tortillas-- and I plan to make Lisa's recipe, from her cookbook.  Migas for breakast.  It's a good thing.  

Now, I want to go to Austin, Texas!

A printable recipe is at the end of this post. If you cannot view it, click here to be directed to Key Ingredient.

 

Chicken Mole Torta (Mexican Chicken Sloppy Joes)

 Ever since I got hooked on food blogs, in 2008, I rarely watch Food Network.  One weekend morning, as I was folding laundry, I decided to click on Food Network.I've never watched "The Sandwich King" show (Next Food Network Star Winner "Jeff Mauro", Season 7).  Jeff was making a Chicken Mole Torta, and I found that episode reeled me into watching him make a dish I have never tried before.

Mole (Mo-Lay) sauce is something very unique, and there are countless versions of how it's made. It's a recipe that Latin American families take pride in, and many are family heirloom recipes.  I did a little research, and found a commonality in the traditional recipe ingredients-- chiles, sesame seed and/or almond, fruit, raisins and chocolate.  I also needed diced tomatoes, tomato paste,  chicken stock, garlic, onion, ground cinnamon and cloves. 

Chocolate and chili sauce?  Sounds a little weird, doesn't it?  That's exactly why I couldn't wrap my head around ordering a Mole sauce dish at a Mexican restaurant. Until now.  Ever since I became a "Food Blogger", I've opened up my palate to not shy away from trying new recipes.

I had just purchased Bone-In Chicken at Whole Foods.  It was Cinco de Mayo weekend, so the decision was made. I was going to make this recipe.  I already had most of  the ingredients, and was pretty confident it would be good-- especially after reading all the five star ratings.

 

All I needed to buy were the Ancho Chilis.  The Chilis were baked for a few minutes, then finely chopped and set aside.

I buy canned Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, and I rarely use them all at once. Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapenos, and I will warn you-- they do pack a heat punch!   I love spicy food, but I have to tone down the heat.   So that I don't waste the chipotle peppers, I freeze portions into small containers; they are easier to chop, frozen, and I just toss them into my Mexican-themed recipes. 

 For this recipe, Jeff uses almond butter instead of finely ground almonds. 

The prep work took close to 30 minutes, as I carefully measured and chopped my ingredients (a printable recipe card is at the end of this post).  Once that work is done, the rest is pretty straight-forward, but it does require another 30 minutes of cooking and stirring.

Let's make Chicken Mole!

First, we toast the sesame seeds, and set them aside. Heat either peanut or vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add  onions, a couple pinches of salt and saute until soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. The reserved ancho chiles and minced chipotle are added, then cooked until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Now, for the the chocolate, cinnamon, cloves and garlic-- cook until the garlic is fragrant and the chocolate is melted, about 2 minutes.

Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, almond butter, raisins and sesame seeds. Gently simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Place the mole into a blender and puree until smooth, about 1 minute. TIP: I much prefer to use an immersion blender, because it's one less kitchen gadget to clean. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. If using a blender, add the mole back to the Dutch oven. . 

Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with salt and pepper. Lay the chicken in the sauce in one layer, making sure each breast is entirely coated, and gently simmer, flipping once during cooking, until the breasts register 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside off the heat and let rest

Using your hands, remove the skin and meat from the bones and discard.

Shred the chicken into smaller chunks and place back into the mole to keep warm. Season if necessary.

At this point, you can serve this dish over brown rice, with a garnish of sour cream and fresh cilantro-- and an optional squeeze of lime juice.  Delicious!  This is how we enjoyed the leftovers on the following day.  However, I chose to serve this as a "Torta" or Mexican Sandwich.  In my previous posts, I shared how I made my own Mexican Bolillo Bread.  

Any kind of sandwich rolls, would make a good substitute.  Or, if you have a local Mexican bakery, buy a few and you won't regret it.  

To build this torta/sandwich you'll want shredded lettuce, sour cream, cilantro, lime slices (optional), tomatillo sauce and refried beans.  

On a previous post, I shared how I made the tomatillo (green salsa) sauce-- which was really easy to make and adds a perfect tangy and ever-so-subtle spice to the sandwich.  I debated on adding the refried beans-- for one thing, I do not like canned refried beans.  To me, there is something unappetizing about how they look, and I haven't found one brand that is palatable to my Mexican DNA.  However, I don't have a problem with keeping canned beans on hand-- they work great when I don't have the time to soak my own beans.  I decided to make black beans instead of pinto beans. Here's my quick way of making my own fast refried beans:

In a skillet, I simply add a can of black (or pinto) beans with the liquid.  Cook on medium high meat, so that the liquid will slowly evaporate. Mash and you're done in about five minutes!  You can add additional seasonings, to your liking-- such as cumin or chili powder. This time, I left them plain.

 

Slather some refried beans on the sandwich roll, then add a mound of chicken mole, and some extra mole sauce...

Add sour cream, add some queso fresco (which I didn't, because I forgot to buy some), and top with pickled jalapenos (which I didn't do, but I'm sure would have been great for heat-loving folks), then add some fresh cilantro (my favorite).

...drizzle with tomatillo sauce

Serve with a pile of napkins, a cold Corona beer (optional, but recommend for those of you who are over 21) and dig in!

TASTING NOTES:  Let's zero in on the mole sauce.  This is an alchemy of so many different ingredients, that you cannot distinguish  the independent flavors.  Not one single ingredient  over-powered the other.  It's a beautiful reddish-brown sauce, with a slightly nutty flavor and you cannot tell that there's chocolate as a surprised ingredient.  Sweet, spicy, nutty, slightly tomatoey-- just plain delicious!  Where have I been that I missed out on the wonderful flavor of mole?!  

As for the sandwich-- it's a messy affair, and one that my husband and I both enjoyed a lot. The next time I make this, I'm going to add a lot more heat to it by using an entire chipotle, and by making my own pickled jalapenos.  I had fun learning how to make my own Bolillos, but I really liked this recipe just as a stew, served over brown rice. 

You will find printable recipes for this mole at the end of this post.  If you are ambitious enough, I recommend making the bread and the tomatillo sauce.  Jeff Mauro-- I can see why Bobby Flay loved your recipes and why you were chosen as the winner.  You do have a knack for great flavor.  Well done!