Chicken a la Crema

Ingredients

Base

  • 1 whole chicken (or ~11⁄2 lbs chicken thighs)
  • ~11⁄2 lbs mushrooms (cremini and bunapi are good)
  • 1 yellow onion

Spices

  • 3 poblano peppers
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1⁄4 tsp cayenne powder
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 4 cloves garlic

Sauce

  • 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed/diced tomatoes
  • 1 quart chicken broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup sour cream

Method

Prep

  • Quarter a chicken or make sure your pieces are ready to be cooked
  • Wash the mushrooms and slice them
  • Peel and dice the onion to ~1 cm
  • Wash and seed the peppers, slice into thinish strips
  • Peel and finely dice the garlic

Cook chicken and vegetables

  • In a large pot over high heat with some tongs, add canola oil
  • Brown chicken pieces until dark on both sides (~5–6 mins per side)
  • Remove chicken to a bowl
  • Reduce heat to medium and add mushrooms and onions with some salt
  • Cook until well browned (~8–10 mins)
  • Add the peppers and spices and cook until the peppers start to soften (~3 mins)
  • Add the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer
  • Add the chicken back in
  • Simmer for 1 hour 15 mins

Finish

  • Remove the chicken to a bowl to let cool
  • Raise the heat back to high and reduce the stewing liquids by half
  • Break up the chicken into smaller pieces, and remove anything you don’t want if using a whole chicken
  • Add the chicken and drippings back to the sauce and simmer for 15 mins

References