Chicken Guadalajara

Chicken Guadalajara

My favorite dish on the menu at “The Boarder Café” is Chicken Guadalajara. Last week I was inspired to create this recipe after sadly missing the turn into the Boarder Café parking lot at their Saugus Route One location. Rush hour traffic had both north and south bound traffic backed up for miles, making it an easy decision not to attempt turning around. Craving the heavenly flavors of this dish, I headed straight to Market Basket to pick up a few key ingredients I knew I didn’t have on hand at home. Within 45 minutes of walking in the door my favorite Boarder dish was recreated and served to the family. It tasted amazing! Everyone gave it a double thumbs up!!  

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Chicken Guadalajara

Ingredients

10 tablespoons salted butter (4 Tbsp.for veggies, 3 Tbsp.for chicken, 2 Tbsp. for cheese sauce, and 1 Tbsp.for glass baking dish)

1 medium sized Poblano Pepper; seeded and diced

1 medium Jalapeno Pepper; seeded and diced

1 small Sweet Vidalia Onion; diced

1 tablespoon garlic;roughly chopped

½ teaspoon garlic salt;

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper;freshly ground

½ teaspoon kosher salt

¾ cup sweet red pepper;seeded and diced

4  tablespoon olive oil; plus 2 tablespoons for boxed rice

8 chicken tenders;pounded between parchment or waxed paper until ¼ inch thick

1 box Goya Spanish Rice

2 tablespoons flour

1 ½ cups heavy cream

¼ cup fresh cilantro; roughly chopped

1  cup Queso Fresco cheese;crumbled

1 ½ cup cheddar cheese;shredded

Step-by-Step

1  cook Goya Spanish Rice by following box instructions *Note~( I used 2 tablespoons olive oil); reserve cooked rice

1 melt 4 tablespoons salted butter in medium sized fry pan; add onion, garlic, Poblano pepper, Jalapeno peppers, ¼ teaspoon garlic salt, ¼ teaspoon onion powder and ¼ teaspoon chili powder, salt and pepper; saute two minute

2  add one tablespoon olive oil and diced red pepper; saute one minute remove from heat; transfer 4  tablespoons salsa butter vegetable mixture to small bowl; reserve

3  combine remaining ¼ teaspoons garlic salt, onion powder and chili powder in small bowl; season both sides of prepared chicken pieces

4  in same fry pan over high heat add 3 tablespoons olive oil and 3 tablespoons salted butter; cook 30 seconds,or until butter is melted

5  working in batches add seasoned chicken pieces to fry pan; saute 2 -3 minutes per side or until slightly golden; transfer partially cooked chicken to platter; reserved uncovered

*Note~(chicken will not be fully cooked at this point)

6 in medium saucepan melt 2 tablespoons salted butter; add 2 tablespoons flour; stir vigorously 45 seconds; add heavy cream; mix well

7  add ¾ cup Queso Fresco Cheese and Cheddar Cheeses; stir until thick creamy cheese sauce comes together; remove from heat immediately; reserve

8 butter 13×9 glass baking dish using remaining tablespoon butter; arrange half the reserved Spanish Rice in even layer

9  fix reserved chicken pieces in single layer over rice

10  scatter reserved pepper onion mixture over chicken and top with remaining ¼ cup crumbled Queso Fresco Cheese, and fresh cilantro

11 pour and spread warm reserved cheese sauce over top

12  fix remaining Spanish Rice evenly over cheese sauce layer; cover with aluminum foil

13  bake in 375 degree oven 20 minutes;or until bubbly; serve immediately

*Note~this dish can be prepped to this point covered and refrigerated 2 days; remove from refrigerator 1 hour before baking

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