Southwest Chicken with Chipotle Cream

Submitted by PalatablePastime

"Adjust the chiles to your taste: add as many as you can tolerate! :)"

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 3 lbs chicken legs with thigh
• 3⁄4 cup milk
• 3 canned chipotle chiles
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons flour
• 1⁄2 cup heavy cream
• 1⁄4 cup sour cream
• 8 ounces queso cheese, grated (monterrey jack ok)
• minced chipotle chile (to garnish)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place chicken in an ovenproof baking dish, and place in preheated oven, and bake for 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine milk, canned chipotles, garlic, cumin, onion powder, and salt in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Heat butter and flour in a large skillet and blend until smooth; add heavy cream and sour cream, whisking until smooth.
5. Stir in chipotle puree, and stir constantly until mixture comes to a boil and thickens; remove from heat.
6. After chicken has baked 25 minutes, remove from oven and drain any fat.
7. Pour chipotle cream over chicken and top with grated queso cheese.
8. Replace chicken in oven and bake for about 20 minutes more, or until cheese just starts to brown.
9. Remove from oven and serve with extra sauce spooned over chicken and garnished with minced chipotle chiles, if desired.
10. Goes good with steamed rice (and extra sauce on top).

Reviews

[Tonk mama]

I am a native New Mexican and (embarrassingly) have never cooked with chipotle chiles. I tried this recipe and found it outstanding...my husband came in from work and said "something smells awesome", and my teenage boys loved it. After I made the first batch of sauce, I immediately made a 2nd batch. This is a perfect blend of spiciness, garlic and creaminess. Next time I will decrease the cumin by half (not a big fan of cumin, but it is beautiful in the sauce), and use boneless skinless chicken breasts; will also try this as a pasta sauce with grilled chicken breasts. This sauce can be used multiple ways. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!

 

[LMillerRN]

I made this with cut up chicken pieces. What a beautiful color it turns out to be. I would love to make this for company. It looks very elegant. Thanks.

 

[Piper Lee]

So wonderful! This dish makes your tastebuds utterly happy! I make this for my family at least once a month. This goes great with #33161 Tex-Mex Rice. It is better than going out for Mexican food. Just make extra sauce when you make this recipe and smother the rice in it. For leftovers I put Tex-Mex rice in a ziploc then a piece of chicken and pour a little sauce over all and freeze. Makes great individual meals.

 

[Just Cher]

Ok I have had this in my cookbook for sometime now and finally got around to making it...........sheesh all the wasted time! Fabulous. I prepared with boneless chicken breasts so I did not cook the chicken prior to adding the sauce. I followed the rest of the recipe exactly but cut the cooking time to 20 minutes. Wonderful, spicy saucy chicken. I admit, I am no wimp to heat but 3 chipotles was pretty hot. Course I used the biggest ones, so next time I will taste the additions. DH and DD thought it would make for excellent chicken enchiladas. Great recipe Sue, can't wait to make this again!

 

[Homebody13]

This chicken dish hit the spot! I used chicken breasts and sauteed them instead of baking. Also, I did not have any heavy cream, instead I doubled the sour cream. Very, very satisfying served over mashed potatoes. Next time I'll add a few jalepenos to add another layer of flavor.