Recipe #10: Poblanos Stuffed with Cheddar and Chicken



This is NOT how mine turned out...

I was very excited to try out this new recipe, which I had been saving for a couple of weeks now. I wasn’t sure I would be able to find poblanos in the super market, but while we were in Kensington last weekend, we found a little Mexican grocery store that had poblano peppers, and much, much more!
I love that Kensington has niche grocery stores that cater to a specific nationalities. I love browsing the shelves to see what unique products are offered, what neat snacks and treats are hidden in the frozen section, and what unexpected canned item might turn up next to a regular old can of beans. The vegetables are often very interesting, and many I’m not sure I’ll ever dare to eat… but maybe one day.

Cooking this recipe meant this was also the first time I had tried roasting peppers, blackening them in the oven to char the outside in order to peal it away. I was actually a little excited about this part. But the end result didn’t turn out as pretty as I had hoped; roasting the peppers also makes them very soft and flimsy, so they weren’t so much a stuffed peppers, more like a pepper carefully folded over the chicken stuffing.

With already prepared shredded chicken, roasting the peppers and cooking the rice was the extent of the actual cooking, so it was a fairly quick meal to prepare. The filling was really quite yummy, and I would have eaten this on its own, but when combined with the pepper, it gave a really nice smoky flavour with a bit of heat.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large poblano chiles
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium white onion, chopped
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1 tsp. ground cumin
Generous pinch ground cinnamon
Kosher salt
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 cups shredded cooked chicken, preferably dark meat
1-1/2 cups cooked brown or white rice
2 cups grated sharp or extra-sharp white Cheddar (about 7 oz.)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (including some tender stems)
1 Tbs. lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

Position an oven rack about 4 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler on high. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil.

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. Turn the chiles inside out, flick out any remaining seeds, and turn right side out. Return the poblanos to the baking sheet.

Purée the tomatoes, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp. salt in a food processor. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add the purée and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated and the mixture looks thick and pulpy, 8 to 11 minutes. 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. 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.