Do you ever make a dish that you know the ingredients just go together but you do not know exactly what you are making?  More specifically, I don’t what to call it.  Whether you are making an Italian dish or its Mexican corollary, meat cheese and a tomato sauce is a chicken Parmesan.  This Mexican spin adds roasted poblanos and a sauce made of dried ancho chilies and arbol chilies with Mexican spices and citrus.  

The sauce I developed was used in two ways.  First, I used the sauce as a marinade for the chicken.  Secondly, I reduced the sauce and used it as my tomato sauce in my Mexican Chicken Parmesan.  The sauce is pretty complex.  It begins with dried ancho and arbol chilies.  Next there is two Mexican spices including Aleppo pepper flakes and annatto powder.  This sauce is not hot but it has a little kick.  The kick is moderated by the addition of the orange, lemon & lime juice.  The latter two juices are used frequently in Mexican cooking.  I added the orange juice to make this marinade/sauce sweeter.  As you know, I love to make sauces that are spicy and sweet at the same time.  When you eat a dish that has these characteristics, first you get the sweetness but it finishes with a really nice kick.  I think that is so amazing.  So cool how that works.  So cool how your taste buds experience what you created.

The area of my cooking knowledge I would love to grow is my sauce making.  I love sauces.  I love finishing off a dish with a sauce.  I love the idea creating additional flavor to the main dish by beginning with a marinade.  With a little bit of planning, simply a night ahead, additional flavor can be infused into your dish.  If the marinade is good, it can be reused and made into a sauce as was done with this dish.

The Recipe

Mexican Chicken Parmesan

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A Mexican spin on the Italian classic with a Mexican marinade, peppers and Chipotle cheese.

Prep2 hours hrs

Cook15 minutes mins

Total2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings3

Scale

1x2x3x

Ingredients 

• ▢ 3 chicken breasts
• ▢ 6 – 8 dried ancho chilies
• ▢ 5 dried arbol chilies
• ▢ 1 tablespoon aleppo pepper
• ▢ 1 tablepsoon annatto pepper
• ▢ 1 tablespoon paprika
• ▢ 1/4 cup lemon juice
• ▢ 1/4 cup lime juice
• ▢ 1/2 cup orange juice
• ▢ 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
• ▢ 4 red cubanelle peppers
• ▢ 3 poblano peppers
• ▢ 6 slices chipotle cheese

Instructions 

• Begin by hydrating the dried chilies in a bowl of warm water for about 20 minutes.
• Take the peppers out and place in a blender.
• Add the spices, the juices and all but 2 tablespoons of the oil.
• Add a little bit of the water and blend until all the ingredients are fully blended.
• In a marinade dish, add the chicken breasts and top with the sauce.
• Let marinate for at least two hours and overnight if you have time.
• Place the peppers on a baking tray with a little olive oil.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool and set aside.
• Heat a cast iron skillet on medium high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil and heat until simmering.
• Add in the marinated chicken and cook for 6 – 7 minutes per side.
• Slice off the ends of the peppers and remove the seeds.
• Finish the dish by topping the chicken with one red pepper and one green pepper.
• Place the chicken on a baking tray with the peppers and top with 2 slices of the cheese.
• Bake for 2 – 3 minutes.
• Serve and enjoy!

  Marinade made and then added to chicken.

Peppers pre-raost and then following the roast.

Chicken charred, peppers added and finished with the cheese.

The final dish Plated.