Enough with the gluten-free cupcake reviews! Clifford Wright says about this recipe, Chicken in Jalapeno Cream Sauce, in his brand-new cookbook, Hot & Cheesy, that it’s a beauty to behold, and I have to agree. In fact it’s so good, I can’t think of any way to make it better, and once you try it, you’ll probably be wondering (like I was) how soon you can make it again.
I was worried about the “heat” when I saw the ingredients list. You seed and chop 8 jalapenos and process them in a blender with 1/2 cup whole milk.
Then you melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free all-purpose flour mix with great success) and cook, stirring, for about a minute to make a roux. Add the blended chile mixture and stir until smooth. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add 1 cup of Mexican crema or heavy cream, and stir until the sauce begins to bubble, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and add a teaspoon of salt. By this time the heat has really cooled down. The sauce can be refrigerated at this point for up to a day.
It’s a funny thing, but I’m not a huge fan of skinless, boneless chicken. That’s what you use here though — you melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add 2 pounds of boneless breast halves and brown for about 4 minutes on each side.
The browned breasts go into a buttered 12 x 9-inch baking casserole, although come to think of it, I probably forgot to grease the pan.
The gorgeous green sauce goes on top.
And because this book is called Hot & Cheesy, you top everyhing with 1 1/2 cups (about 5 ounces) greated Monterey Jack cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes and serve hot with some warm corn tortillas (it’s also good with rice). And don’t worry about the spice because it totally mellows by the time the cheese melts in and everything is done.