I was inspired to create this dish when I found guajillo chilies at Kroger LOL. This is a one pan recipe that is not too complicated, just requires a little more time than my simple recipes.
When using dried chilies, you can actually rehydrate them by soaking them in water! I boiled mine in water to speed up the process. This won't entirely rehydrate them, but it will soften them up and create and "chili broth" with the water. This is a great way to incorporate spice and smokiness into your dish! Guajillo chilies are not to hot, they do offer some spice, smokiness, a little fruitiness and so much flavor! I only used two and that was enough!
When creating spicy foods, it is always good to incorporate fat into the dish because it will enhance the different flavors, create a more complex dish as well as reduce some of the heat from the spice. This dish uses heavy cream, but butter can also be used instead. The goal is to create a pan sauce. If you do not have heavy cream, do make more of the chili broth to use.
Some info on pan sauces! Pan sauces use the flavors of the residue or fond from the meat that you cooked on the pan to create a sauce. These sauces are typically made using the fond remaining on the pan along with a broth, butter, salt and maybe other seasonings. They taste luxurious, but are so simple!
To create a great pan sauce, you want to increase the amount of fond that sticks onto the pan. You can do this by using less oil, NOT using a nonstick pan, and not overcrowding your pan. If you overcrowd your pan this will cause more liquid to collect around your meat and make it more difficult for it to evaporate. This will cause the meat to steam instead of brown, and the liquid will loosen the bond between the meat and the pan, resulting in less fond formation. Some other tips for creating pan sauces is to add in aromatics, such as garlic, onions, shallots, etc and to use cold butter. This will allow the butter to be incorporated into the sauce more slowly, allowing it to emulsify better. If you don't incorporate the butter slowly, while whisking constantly, the sauce may not emulsify properly and this will result in a sauce with an oil layer on top. Using heavy cream prevents this from happening, so it is an easier way to create a pan sauce, and contains less fat than butter!
This recipe is sure to be a crowd pleaser, it is so flavorful and seems so much more complicated than it is!
This recipe is a lot easier than it seems! It tastes so good and is so versatile! You can serve it with cilantro lime rice, cauliflower rice, or as tacos, which is what I did! It tasted so great!
Some possible substitutions:
•If vegetarian: use firm tofu instead of chicken
•If don't have heavy cream: make 1/2 cup more chili broth and use 3 tbsp cold butter cubed and add slowly
•Can use shallots instead of onions
•If no sesame oil, can omit
•Can use chicken breast if desired, make sure to tenderize it before cooking
This recipe turned out so well and is the perfect dish to make if you're starting to get more into cooking! It requires some technique but is pretty forgiving as well! Let me know if you make it and what you think! It tasted so good!!
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