Peanut Recipes

Chicken in Peanut and Chile Sauce

1 dried ancho pepper

1 ½ cups chicken stock

3 whole black peppercorns

3 whole allspice

1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces

3 whole cloves

1 small white onion, sliced

1 clove garlic minced

1 tablespoon peanut or cooking oil

1 cup roasted tomatoes

2/3 cup unsalted dry roasted peanuts (or ½ cup peanut butter)

1 tortilla, toasted

1 chipotle pepper in adobo (tinned) or more for taste.

1 chicken, cut into parts and skinned

Cut the dried pepper open; discard stems and seeds. Tear pepper into small pieces and place in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of chicken stock ; let stand for 30 min to soften peppers. Do NOT drain.

In a mortar or molcajete, combine the peppercorns, allspice, cinnamon and cloves; grind to a coarse powder. Set aside.

In a small skillet, cook onion and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat for 5- 10 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently.

Transfer the onion mixture and tomatoes to a blender. Add the softened pepper with stock, the ground spice mixture, the remaining 1 cup chicken stock, peanuts, tortilla, and chipotle. Blend till smooth.

Place the chicken in a 4 to 5 qt. slow cooker. Pour the tomato mixture over, cover and cook on low for 6  hours, or on high for 3 hours. If cooking on the stove, place in a heavy pan and simmer covered for 1 ½ hours on medium heat. Serve with rice.

Peanut and Chipotle Cream Soup

Makes 6 to 8 servings

½ cup white onion, coarsely chopped

4 to 5 cloves garlic, peeled

2 to 3 Tbsp  vegetable oil

½ lb. skinless peanuts

2 to 3 chipotle chiles en adobo plus 1 Tbsp of the juice from the canned chiles

2 cups Caldo de Pollo ( chicken stock)

1 cup light cream (or ½ cup milk with ½ cup sour cream or Jocoque)

1 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and ½ cup additional chicken stock)

Salt to taste (be careful if using salted peanuts)

1/cup cheese for garnish (fresco, cotija, jack)

1 to 2 Tbsp toasted Mexican oregano, marjoram or cilantro for garnish

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until a light color develops. Remove from the oil.

Fry the peanuts in the remaining oil until lightly browned; add the chipotle chiles and cook 1 minute more.

Puree the peanuts, chiles, onion and garlic with the chicken stock till smooth.

Mix the puree with the cream and wine and simmer over medium to low heat for 20 to 30 minutes.

Season to taste.  Ladle into bowls and garnish. May be served chilled without the cheese.