Kitchen Jam

Lemon Chipotle Chicken

After coming up with Chipotle Carrot-Apple Butter for Tigress’s February CanJam, I had a few leftovers – a couple carrots, an extra lemon and of course, a whole can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Before I pureed the rest of the chipotle peppers, I decided to do a little improv on my basic Skillet Chicken. And there was this lonely carrot that kept saying “C’mon, give me a shot!” And I had a lemon that I needed to use.

One thing led to another, and it all led to this:

Lemon Chipotle Chicken Skillet

6 chicken thighs, or three chicken leg quarters (leg+thigh)
1 carrot, diced in 1/2 inch cubes (about 1/2 cup)
2 green onions, diced (white and green parts – about 1/2 cup)
10-12 large brown mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup chicken broth
zest and juice from 1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (or to taste)

seasoning salt, and pepper to taste

• Sprinkle the chicken with the seasoning salt and sear the pieces in hot olive oil in a deep skillet. Turn until browned on all sides. When the chicken is browned on all sides, paint with 1-2 teaspoons of the chipotle pepper puree.
• Add to the pan the finely chopped carrots, sliced mushrooms and chopped green onions, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add in the chicken broth. Add a few grinds of pepper.
• Cover the skillet and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and chicken thighs are cooked through. Add salt, pepper or more chipotle to taste. Serve.

Note: if, like me, you’ve got more chipotle in adobo sauce on hand than you can use right away, puree it with an immersion blender. Put the puree into an ice-cube tray and freeze. Each cube will be approximately 1 tablespoon of pureed chipotle peppers in adobo. Remove the cubes from the tray and store the individual portions in a ziploc bag in the freezer.