Chicken Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Enlightened by the culinary excellence and deliciousness of stuffed chili peppers, I embarked on a quest that began with cheese stuffed Anaheim peppers, which I called Pimientos de Anaheim con Queso, found here, and Barbecued Brisket Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Mexican Cole Slaw, found here.  Both are great recipes to be sure, but this one might be the best yet.  Preparing stuffed chili peppers for dinner is something of a recent evolution for me. I've eaten them all my life but until now, I'm embarrassed to say, I never actually made them.

The key ingredient, besides the peppers themselves, is the shredded breast meat of a rotisserie chicken.  Luckily, I don't have to go to the trouble of rending a cooked chicken myself.  A local grocer takes whatever rotisserie chickens it does not sell, skins the birds and shreds the meat which it refrigerates and sells over the next couple of days.

There are scores, if not hundreds of recipes for stuffed poblano peppers on the Internet, be it with chicken or otherwise, and there is no one right or wrong way to do it.  Some recipes add corn and black beans to the stuffing mix.  Some add rice.  One recipe used the same seasonings as Buffalo Wings.  Several call theirs "the best."  Whatever.  The key takeaway here is that you can vary the ingredients and seasonings of a stuffed Poblano pepper a lot, and it will all be good.  

I served this recipe for dinner with my Black Bean & Avocado Fresco Salad, found here.

Ingredients
3 large poblano peppers, halved and seeded
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 tsp garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp paprika, plus more for garnish
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies (like, Ro-Tel)
4-5 tbsp whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia)
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken breast meat
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
3-4 tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
fine sea salt to taste

The Recipe
Pre-heat the oven to 425F degrees with a rack in the top third. Cover a sheet pan or cookie sheet with aluminum foil for easier clean-up.

Place the peppers cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Turn the pepper over so that they are cut-side down and drizzle more oil and sprinkle more salt.  Put the peppers in the oven and roast until the peppers are soft and starting to brown, 20-25 minutes.

In the meantime, heat up the olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium high heat, and sauté the onions until they are beginning to caramelize, 10-15 minutes.  Add the garlic and sauté another couple of minutes.

Add the tomato and chilies to the saucepan, stir in the cumin and paprika and simmer until the liquid is mostly evaporated.  Stir in the chicken and heat through, another couple of minutes.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the cream cheese, and blend well into the mixture, then do the same thing with the pepper jack cheese and half the sharp cheddar.  Allow the mixture to melt through.

When the peppers have roasted, allow them to cool for a bit, then turn them over on the same sheet pan or cookie sheet and fill the cavity of each pepper with equal amounts of the chicken mixture. Turn the oven down to 375F degrees.

Top the stuffed poblanos with the remaining sharp cheddar cheese and sprinkle a little paprika on each for garnish.

Put the peppers back in the top 1/3 of the oven for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown.