Hey Good Lookin' Whatcha Got Cookin': September 2012

It's Hatch chile time! Last year, I created this recipe for Green Chile Sauce. When I saw the huge display of Hatch chiles at the grocery store, I wanted to do something similar but kick it up a notch, so I jazzed up last year's recipe a bit by creating a creamy consistency with Greek yogurt and then baked chicken in the sauce and topped it off with pepper jack.

Ingredients:
3 hatch green chiles
2 jalepenos
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T flour
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 t ground cumin
1/8 t cayenne pepper
1/8 salt
1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 tablespoons homemade taco seasoning
3/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

First you need to roast the chiles and jalepenos. Green chiles can have a bitter taste in the skin, so roasting the peppers first will get rid of that taste because you'll remove the skin. To roast, you can either hold the peppers over your gas stove, throw on the grill or broil in your oven. You'll want to roast the peppers until the skin blisters and chars. If roasting in the oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a foil lined sheet pan, drizzle peppers with one tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for twenty minutes, flip chiles and jalepenos and roast for an additional 20 minutes. Place the charred chiles in a brown paper bag and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes. This will allow them to steam and will make the skin come off easier. Cut off stem, slice lengthwise and gently peel the skin off and remove seeds. Chop into small pieces.

In a pan over medium, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for two minutes. Add green chiles and jalepenos and sauté another two minutes. Add flour and stir to distribute. Cook out raw flour taste for about one minute. Add chicken stock to the pan, scraping up and browned bits from the bottom. Stir until smooth. Add cumin, cayenne and salt. Bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. When it comes to a boil, reduce to a low simmer. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes.

If you'd like a smoother texture, blend with an immersion blender until you get your desired consistency . If you don't have an immersion blender, cool sauce and pour in your blender and blend until you get your desired consistency. Make sure to cool the sauce or you might blow the top off your blender and have a giant mess! :)

Remove sauce from heat and stir in the Greek yogurt. Taste and check the seasoning and adjust to your liking.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken on both sides with homemade taco seasoning. Place chicken in your choice of baking dish, sprayed with nonstick spray. Spoon chile sauce all over chicken and top with pepper jack. Bake for about 30-35 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken).