Amazingly easy to prepare, and the closest thing to "****** on a plate" as
you'll get. (See my comments at the end)

Broiled Chipotle Chicken With Creamy Spinach
Pollo Enchipotlado Con Crema Y Espinacas

This recipe makes good use of Rick Baylesss favorite pantry item-canned
chipotles. Marinate the chicken several hours in advance, and cook it just
before you sit down to dinner, as it only takes a few minutes to broil. If
you dont care for very spicy dishes, you can reduce the heat by splitting
the peppers in half and scraping out the seeds with the back of a knife
before chopping. Thick cream is cooked in the roasting pan with the
chicken before it is added to the spinach; this lends it the smoky, spicy
flavor of the chipotle peppers.

Serves 4


2 to 3 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, finely chopped (about 2
tablespoons)
1 1/4 cups Thick Cream (recipe follows), whipping cream, or creme fraîche
4 medium-large (about 1 1/3 pounds) skinless and boneless chicken-breast
halves
1/4 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
6 cups (about 10 ounces) spinach, stems removed, well rinsed
Salt

Place the chopped canned chipotles and 2 tablespoons thick cream in a
small bowl, and mix to combine.
Place the chicken in a large bowl, and pour the chipotle mixture over
it, making sure to coat the chicken well. Cover with plastic wrap, and
transfer dish to the refrigerator. Marinate the chicken 2 to 3 hours.
Heat the broiler. Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish
(preferably earthenware) just large enough to accommodate them. Place the
baking dish 6 inches away from the broiler, and broil chicken until deep
brown in color, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove dish from broiler. Turn chicken breasts, and drizzle remaining 1
cup plus 2 tablespoons thick cream around the chicken. Return the dish to
the broiler, and broil until chicken is deep golden and no longer squishy
when you lightly press it with your finger, 4 to 5 minutes more.
Transfer the chicken breasts to a warm platter, and transfer platter to
a warm oven.
Sc**** the cream mixture from the baking dish into a medium-large
saucepan. Add the chicken stock and the spinach. Bring the mixture to a
boil over high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach has
wilted and the cream has reduced and thickened, about 3 minutes. Season
mixture with salt, and serve creamy spinach with the broiled chicken.


Thick Cream

Makes about 1 1/4 cups

1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 teaspoons active culture, such as buttermilk, creme fraîche, sour cream,
or plain yogurt

Pour the whipping cream into a small saucepan, and set over low heat.
Stir until the chill is off; do not heat above 100 degrees (lukewarm).
Remove pan from the heat, and stir in the buttermilk. Pour the liquid into
a clean glass jar.
Place the lid on the jar, without tightening it, and place the jar in a
warm (80 to 90 degrees) spot. Let the cream develop until it is noticeably
thicker, 12 to 24 hours. Stir gently, and refrigerate at least 4 hours to
overnight, chilling and thickening thoroughly. Cover, and refrigerate up
to 10 days.


Comments:

All the hoopla over the cream...on the show, he used Crema Mexicana
(Mexican cream), which is easy to find locally, so I used that.

The package of chicken I bought contained 5 bone-in chicken breasts, so I
filleted them, used the bones to make a stock. I used a small amount for
the recipe and froze the rest. Also, I used the 5th chicken breast for
this dish. This was good because we practically inhaled 4 of them, and my
husband took the fifth one to work for lunch the next day...but the
downside was wishing there was more sauce (the recipe makes a perfect
amount for 4 chicken breasts).

Costco sells a huge bag of prewashed baby spinach. About half the bag was
the perfect amount.

Mimi Hiller
http://www.CookbooksPlus.com


--
Rec.food.recipes is moderated by Patricia Hill at recipes@swcp.com.
Only recipes and recipe requests are accepted for posting.
Please allow several days for your submission to appear.
Archives: http://www.cdkitchen.com/rfr/ http://recipes.alastra.com/