Chicken Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

I have a confession to make... it's not Thursday. It's Saturday. Wait, you already knew that. Well that's not really the confession. The confession is that I was having a hard time getting the motivation to post this... I enjoyed eating the dish and I didn't mind taking the photos. But editing and writing about all these pictures seemed a bit daunting. That's my confession. Although I finally just decided to finish editing them (yesterday) and just sit down and write about them (today). So sorry it is later than usual, but I consider it a victory none the less. I actually did it! I did not however, proof-read (which I try to always do), I'm hitting post as soon as I'm finished typing. Please feel free to ask me for any clarification that may be needed (sorry in advance.)

This post has a lot of pictures... because this meal had a lot of parts - although you can skip making the Mole Sauce if you want to... It would make the process not quite as intense. I tried to break them up into the individual steps though...

Chicken Stuffed Anaheim Peppers

Recipe inspiration from here.

Pepper Prep:

First, you'll need the peppers - I used Anaheim because that's what I had. You can use bell peppers as well. (I actually used left over filling and stuffed into jalapenos and wrapped in bacon - delicious!)

Chop the tops off the Anaheim peppers. You can also do this with bell peppers, depending on the shape - usually I just cut mine in half down the center...

Carefully remove the membranes and the seeds without cutting through the pepper. A little trickier on the curvy ones, but it doesn't have to be perfect.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and place the peppers into it. Boil for 3 minutes.

Get a bowl of ice-cold water ready...

Remove the pepper from the boiling water - I used the handle of a wooden spoon to remove the pepper.

It also helps drain some of the water out. However, you can also use tongs.

Place pepper into cold water. Let cool for a minute. Drain and set aside.

Chicken Prep:

Sprinkle a mixture of 2 Tbsp Chili Powder and 2 tsp smoked paprika onto 2 chicken breasts.

Pan fry them over medium to medium high heat.

Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.

Then shred into large chunks. Set aside.

Mole Sauce: 

-Interesting tidbit, Mole isn't a specific sauce, there are many, many different types of Mole. Also did you know chocolate helps tame the heat?

 You'll need 1 medium onion, chopped (about 1 cup).

Cook in 1 Tbsp oil (I prefer Olive but you can choose whatever you want.) Cook until the onions are tender and become translucent. Translucent, that would be a great spelling bee word. 

While the onions a cooking, combine:

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon,

1 tsp cumin,

1 tsp oregano (dried of course) - mix to combine.

Also prepare 1/8 cup of minced (or finely grated) garlic.

Once the onion is translucent, dump the seasonings and garlic in.

Stir to coat all onion.

Then you'll need 1/4 cup chili powder,

and 3 Tbsp flour.

Stir them in and cook for 1 minute.

You'll also need 4 cups chicken broth.

Pour the broth in while whisking.

Continue whisking until everything in incorporated.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Stirring frequently.

Who doesn't love chocolate? This is 1 ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate.

Grate, cut or shred the chocolate into small pieces.

Add the chocolate to the pan, and stir into the sauce.

Looking good. Now on to the...

Filling:

You'll need 1 cup cheddar cheese and 1 cup mozzarella cheese. You'll also need 8 oz of softened cream cheese.

Toss in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup cilantro.

Add the chicken. Mix.

Add 1/2 cup of the sauce.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that this doesn't look very appetizing... although it totally tastes delicious! (And I don't know about you, but I'd rather have ugly food that tastes great than beautiful food that is disgusting.)

Stuffing:

Okay, now the fun part - stuffing those peppers! I put a spoonful of filling in the top and then used a chopstick to push it down into the bottom. If you don't have chopsticks just laying around, the handle of a wooden spoon would probably work - that is if you have the long, skinny round ones!

All stuffed.

Place onto cookie sheet.

Place 5-6 inches below a hi-temp broiler (about 450+) for 4 minutes, flip over and cook another 4 minutes. 

Alternatively you could place all the peppers in a casserole dish and cover with some sauce and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. It would be more forgiving (mess wise) this way but also take more time... your choice.

Place on a plate and spoon some sauce over it.

Enjoy!

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