El Diablo Chicken

El Diablo Chicken

So, I had this dish when I went to go see my baby brother out West before I went back to work from Maternity Leave. We went to Jasper to ski for a few days and we went to a fantastic restaurant called Dave's Evil Grill. All the dishes had clever evil names and this dish was a specialty from the chef. I knew I had to try this!

I cannot even describe how my taste buds sung while it shoveled this food into my mouth. And for those who have seen me eat, know that I literally shoveled this into my mouth and I barely came up to breathe. I have been craving it ever since and I was SO happy to find the recipe.

Did it turn out exactly as I remembered it? No. Was it still good? Yes.

I think I need to make it a few times to perfect it. The recipe was not clear on how long to simmer the sauce and I think I let it reduce too much. I also added too much corn and black beans, so next time I will adjust. Also, the chicken breasts that I used were HUGE and I think they would have been better in a smaller proportion.

This is what mine looked like made by a chef....

And this is what mine looked like....

I don't think they used corn in the original recipe and I did not have homemade tortilla chips, so I used store bought ones. Plus, I didn't have as much sauce. I will do better next time.

Here is the recipe:

4 to 5 large boneless, skinless chicken breast filets (about 1 to 1 ½ pounds) **Don't use HUGE chicken breasts like me**

Marinade ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon good quality chili powder
1 tablespoon minced garlic
Juice of one large lime

Combine marinade ingredients and add chicken breasts. Stir to coat and let stand, refrigerated, for at least 3 hours. **We did this the night before, so it marinated for 12 hours**

The Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ of a large yellow onion, diced
Two vine-ripened tomatoes, diced or 1 (15 ounce) can of diced drained tomatoes
½ to 1 teaspoon chipotle powder (adjust for heat)
2 cups gluten-free chicken broth **I used my favourite epicure chicken broth**
¼ to ½ cup heavy cream **I used 1/2 cup**
½ cup corn kernels, thawed, if frozen **I probably used 3/4 cup and I shouldn't have**
½ cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained **I didn't read this and I used the whole can and I shouldn't have**
1 ½ cups cooked Jasmine rice

Garnish:
1 to 2 ripe avocados, thinly sliced
2 scallions, top third removed, coarsely chopped

To make the sauce:  

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Sauté the onion and tomatoes for 2 to 3 minutes or until onion is translucent. 

Add chipotle powder and sauté briefly. 

Add the chicken broth and simmer until reduced by half.  

While the mixture is simmering, preheat a grill to medium high and grill the chicken on both sides until centers are no longer pink.  Remove from heat.  Let cool slightly and slice each filet diagonally to yield 5 to 6 slices per filet.  

Add the cream to the reduced chicken broth mixture and simmer 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Fold in corn and black beans.

Divide rice and spoon a portion of the tomato mixture over the rice.  Fan out chicken slices over the top and garnish with avocado slices and a sprinkle of chopped scallion.