Baked Chicken Burritos with Sour Cream-Poblano Sauce

When I first found this recipe I was hesitant to make it because the sauce didn't seem kid-friendly with the poblanos and all.  However, it looked so good that I decided that I could make it and serve the kids theirs without sauce.  BTW:  even though the kids didn't have the sauce, the poblanos didn't make it too spicy at all.  They could have eaten it but had plain sour cream instead.  Because the original recipe only served two I doubled everything.  I was able to fill 8 burrito sized tortillas (which were definitely on the smaller side, compared to some of the larger tortillas that I saw) with a little extra filling left over.  I didn't end up doubling the sauce, knowing the kids weren't going to eat it, but I should have!   The burrito filling was really flavorful and tasty but the sauce definitely took it to another level!  I served these with some yellow rice and some veggies to complete the meal.  Although a bit time-consuming to make, with the filling preparation, the rolling of the burritos, and the baking time, they are definitely worth it!

Baked Chicken Burritos with Sour Cream-Poblano Sauce
Recipe adapted from Kate's Recipe Box, originally from Smells Like Home

Ingredients:

For the burritos:
1 1/2 t. vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 lb. ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 t. tomato paste
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. oregano
1 1/2 t. chili powder
1 t. brown sugar
Kosher salt
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
8 burrito-sized tortillas
Cooking spray

For the sour cream-poblano sauce:
1 poblano pepper
1 T. butter
1 T. flour
1/3 c. chicken broth at room temperature
1/4 c. light sour cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400F degrees and spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and then add the oil. Once hot, add the onions and cook for 3-5 minutes until they begin to soften. Place the ground chicken in the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and drain any excess grease. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30-60 seconds before adding in the beans. Add the water, cumin, oregano, chili powder, cayenne, brown sugar and salt to taste. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Place 2 tablespoons of the cheese at the end of each tortilla and then spoon some of the chicken and bean mixture over the top. Fold the left and right sides of the tortilla in, and then roll the tortilla up, from the end closest to you, to the top. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet and lightly spray the tops of the burritos with cooking spray. Bake for about 20 minutes, until tortillas are golden brown and crispy.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Roast the peppers under the broiler until all sides are well-charred. Peel the peppers, remove the stems and seeds, and dice them.

Heat a small sauce pan over medium heat and melt the butter; stir in the flour and cook for an additional minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and then the diced poblano; continue to simmer, whisking frequently, until thickened. Stir in the sour cream and warm through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve the sauce over the baked burritos.

Family Rating: 2 thumbs up!

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The Weekend Chef: Chorizo-Stuffed Poblano Chiles with Sweet-Sour Escabeche

Menu planning can take me hours.  The problem is that I have too many recipes that I want to make!  Then it's about balancing out the dishes.  I don't want all chicken or pasta dishes, etc.  Do I have something meatless this week?  Are there any ingredients from one dish that I can use in another, so the leftovers don't go to waste?  Believe me, it can get pretty complicated!  I've tried to make it a little easier by going through my recipe pull-outs and some cookbooks and making a list of all the recipes that I want to try soon.  The pull-outs are in a special folder so I know where to find them and then noted on the list.  The cookbook recipes have the name of the cookbook and page number listed next to them.  The blog recipes are just filed in a "cooking" folder under favorites.  Haven't tackled that yet!  So, when I get to Saturday and Sunday I sometimes ask The Weekend Chef what he's going to make.  Other times I give him a recipe and say, "You're making this!"  This past weekend finding our Supper Club recipes took awhile.  I told him about my recipe list and said, just pick something from the list! I had a cookbook open with the Peach and Brie Quesadilla recipe in it and said, "Oh, I have chorizo, do you want to try making this?" (this stuffed poblano recipe). 

He said yes, but I don't think he realized what he was getting himself into!  This is not a weeknight dinner for sure!  It definitely took a lot longer than expected to make.  The poblanos turned out spicier than we thought too so the kids didn't eat those. The onions were pretty strong in the Sweet-Sour Escabeche.  However, it was pretty tasty for all the hard work!  We had more leftover stuffing than peppers.  So, for lunch one day I ended up heating the leftovers in a pan and then cooked some egg whites with it for a hash-like dish, eaten with an english muffin.  It was delicious!

Chorizo-Stuffed Poblano Chiles with Sweet-Sour Escabeche
Recipe slightly adapted from Cooking Light, May 2005

6 servings (1 chile each)

Spicy, tangy, a little sweet, and a tad sour, this dish from Rick Bayless is based on a traditional central Mexican version. You can prepare the different components--roast the chiles and make the potato-chorizo stuffing--a day ahead and refrigerate. Then let everything come to room temperature, and stuff the chiles.


Ingredients:
6 large poblano chiles
Cooking spray
1/3 cup finely chopped carrot
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups sliced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups cubed red potato
8 ounces chorizo sausage

Preparation:
Preheat broiler.

Place poblano chiles on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil 14 minutes or until blackened, turning twice. Place in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes; peel.

Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add carrot to the pan; cover and cook 5 minutes or until carrot is crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Add water and next 4 ingredients (through bay leaves) to pan; stir well. Bring mixture to a simmer; cook 1 minute or until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Discard bay leaves. Combine onion and salt in a large bowl; pour vinegar mixture over onion mixture. Cool completely.

Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 10 minutes or until tender; drain.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Remove casings from the sausage. Cook sausage for 10 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove sausage from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan. Drain sausage on paper towels. Add potato to pan; cook 15 minutes, browning on all sides. Stir in sausage; cook until mixture is thoroughly heated.

Cut a lengthwise slit in each chile; discard stems, seeds, and membranes. Place about 1/2 cup sausage mixture in each chile (chiles will be full). Divide onion mixture evenly among each of 6 plates; top each serving with one stuffed chile.

Family Rating: 1 1/2 thumbs up.