Chicken with Poblanos & Cream

Chicken with Poblanos & Cream

This recipe is inspired by the one in 'Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen' cookbook (page 324). I left out a few of his ingredients, simply because I didn't have them on hand and some of my measurements are guesstimates...but it still turned out really well.

Serves 4-6

4 to 6 - chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
2 - medium onions, peeled and sliced
6 oz. (or so)- sliced fresh mushrooms, baby portabellas work great
4 - fresh poblano peppers
3/4 cup - fresh cilantro (coriander) leaves, washed and chopped
3 TBS - olive oil
1 TBS - minced fresh garlic (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp - dried oregano
3/4 tsp - dried thyme
Salt to taste
1 pint (16 oz) - heavy whipping cream or half-n-half (if using half-n-half, add some sour cream to help thicken the sauce)
1 cup - water (approximately)

~~ Roast the poblano peppers over an open flame or under the broiler, turning occasionally, until skin is charred on all sides. Place peppers in a large bowl and cover tightly with aluminum foil or plastic wrap. Let sit for 5 minutes or so. At this time, the peppers should be easy to peel. Peel the skin off the peppers and remove the stem and seeds. Rinse briefly under cool water to finish removing the seeds and left over bits of the skin. Slice the peppers in strips and set aside.

~~ In a medium sized sauce pan, preferably with a heavy bottom, heat about half the oil over medium high heat and then add the sliced onion. Stir around and cook until slightly browned. Add the garlic, oregano and thyme. Stir for 1 minute or so. Add the pepper strips and heat through. If it looks like things are cooking too fast at this point, add a little of the water and turn the heat down a bit.

~~ At this point, you can scoop out some of the pepper/onion mixture and set it aside for garnish. Add about half of the cream to your sauce pan now, along with the chopped cilantro and maybe a small pinch of salt. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now pour sauce mixture into a blender, cover loosely and blend smooth. If you don't have a blender you can use a food processor or a stick/immersion blender. At this point you need to taste the sauce to check for seasoning. You may need to add a pinch of salt at this point. If the sauce is too spicey for you, add some more cream or sour cream (or even a tiny pinch of sugar) to tone down the heat level. Stir well and set aside.

~~ Turn the oven on to 350 degrees F. Wash and dry the chicken breast with a paper towel. Lightly salt the chicken on all sides. In a large skillet, heat the remainder of the oil and add the chicken. Brown the chicken on all sides. You may have to do this in batches. When the chicken breasts are browned, put them in the bottom of a glass baking dish, making sure not to crowd them too much. Add the mushrooms to the hot skillet and saute until soft. You can add a splash of water to the pan, if it seems too dry. Pour the cooked mushrooms over top of the chicken. Now pour the sauce over the chicken as well. Cover the dish, tightly, with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. When serving the chicken you can garnish it with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro and some of the reserved onion/pepper mixture.

Enjoy!