craftygal fridge - Recipe for Lime Chicken with Tomato and Jalapeno Sauce

This lady has my mom beat!

Interview with Rick Bayless

Rick’s restaurant in Chicago

102nd Way to Do Chicken

by Christy

"You wrote the book, Marg: 101 Ways to Do Chicken," Gramps would say every time he and Gram came over to my parents’ house and my mother was, yet again, fixing a new chicken dish. Well, the other night when we were grocery shopping at 7:30 pm and I had no idea what to do about dinner (and zero inspiration), Ryan started gathering a variety of ingredients for a dinner he was, apparently, secretly planning. First he picked up some chicken, and then he nabbed a can of whole Roma tomatoes (which was a shocker because, although he likes tomato sauces and salsas, he doesn’t touch the things in their unadulterated form). Finally, he sent me for a fresh lime while he picked out two lovely jalapeños. These were the basics, which he proceeded to whip into a fabulous late-night dinner when we got home.

I don’t think I’d be wrong in saying that Ryan’s inspiration for this recipe came from Rick Bayless’s show, "Mexico: One Plate at a Time" on PBS. I do know Gramps would have loved this one… tender, spicy, and tangy--just like some of his favorite drinks!

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 jalapeño peppers

1 can of Roma tomatoes

1 clove of garlic

1 fresh lime

1 tsp. of sugar

1 Tbsp. of butter

salt to taste

First, rinse and dry your jalapeños. Ideally, you should roast your jalapeños in the oven, but for time’s sake, we just roasted them in a dry pan over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes. Roast them until the skin starts to turn black in spots. Flip occasionally.

While the jalapeños are roastin’, mince the clove of garlic.

When the jalapeños are done, cut the peppers open, remove and discard the seeds.

Puree 3-4 of the Roma tomatoes, the minced garlic, and the peppers together in a food processor or blender. Cut the lime in half and squeeze one half of the lime into the sauce. Mix well. Add sugar to temper the acidity of the peppers and tomatoes.

In a large skillet, melt butter and place the chicken breasts in it. Spoon all of the sauce over the chicken, cover, and cook on low-to-medium heat until the chicken is cooked through, about 10-15 minutes. There’s no need to flip them, just let them simmer away baby!

To serve, place chicken on individual plates and generously spoon puree over the chicken from the bottom of the pan. From the remaining half of lime, as a finishing touch, squeeze a bit more fresh limejuice on the chicken.

A romaine salad with fresh cucumber and grape tomatoes was a wonderful compliment to this chicken dish, as well as a crusty French bread. We also thought that this chicken would be fabulous served over rice.