Baked Chicken with Mushrooms and Ancho Chile
Pollo con Hongos y Chile AnchoSan Miguel de Allende is a city of steep hills and beautiful colonial buildings in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It has a large permanent American population attracted to its beauty, climate, arts, and crafts. During one of my stays, when I was escorting a culinary group, I had this chicken dish at El Patio restaurant. The dish was prepared with a small half chicken covered with the mushrooms and sauce. I prefer to use whole chicken legs with thighs attached. The herb epazote is important to the flavor, but if unavailable, use cilantro. It won't taste quite the same, but it will still be very good.
Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
- 2 large ancho chiles cut open and seeded, veins removed
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 whole chicken legs with thighs attached
- ¾ pound brown crimini mushrooms thinly sliced
- 2 medium tomatoes peeled and chopped
- ½ cup chicken broth canned or homemade
- ½ medium white onion coarsely chopped
- 1 medium garlic clove chopped
- 2 sprigs of epazote leaves only (or substitute ¼ cup fresh cilantro)
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper or to taste
Instructions
- In a small dry skillet, toast the chiles over medium heat, turning, until aromatic, about 1 minute.
- Soak in a bowl of hot water 20 minutes, then drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and brown the chicken on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Remove to an ovenproof casserole dish.
- In the same skillet, cook the mushrooms, stirring, about 3 minutes.
- Add to the casserole dish with the chicken.
- Reserve the skillet.
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Put the tomatoes, chicken broth, onion, garlic, epazote leaves, salt, pepper, and the reserved chiles in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
- Reheat the skillet, and pour in the sauce.
- Cook, stirring, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Pour over the chicken and mushrooms.
- Cover and bake until the chicken is tender, 40 to 45 minutes.
- Divide the chicken and sauce equally among 4 serving plates.
Notes & Wine Advice
Serve hot.