Chipotle Chicken


I am always looking for easy and tasty chicken recipes. 

This is a great recipe if you like Mexican food. It’s not too spicy, so even if you don’t like spicy food, you will still enjoy this dish.

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You can use bone-in chicken or boneless chicken breasts/thighs. I ask the butcher to cut a whole chicken into 8 pieces for me. The backbone is usually in the bag, which you can save for chicken soup or just toss.

I find that chicken on the bone, while taking way longer to cook, is much more flavorful than boneless chicken breasts.

The chicken needs to marinate overnight, so you need to prep this the day before. But it is a very easy recipe and it’s delicious!

 

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I always have a can of chipotle peppers on hand. Chipotle peppers in adobe sauce are smoked jalapenos in a tangy vinegar sauce. They are perfect mixed in with mayo and cilantro to make a spicy dipping sauce (see recipe here).

 The recipe can be done on the grill or in your oven and finished with a fast broil to crisp the skin.

I serve this along charred bell peppers and yellow rice.

 

Chipotle Grilled Chicken (click here to print recipe without pictures)

- 1/4 cup canned chipotle chiles in adobo (more if you like it spicier)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1/2 onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1. Combine chipotles in adobo, olive oil, and garlic cloves in processor; puree until paste forms. Add chopped onion, chopped cilantro, paprika, ground cumin, chili powder, and salt; process until onion is finely chopped. Transfer 1/4 cup chipotle mixture to small bowl; cover and refrigerate.

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2. Arrange chicken pieces in single layer in a glass baking dish. Spread remaining chipotle mixture all over chicken pieces. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

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 3a. Grilled: Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Grill chicken until cooked through, moving to cooler part of grill as needed to prevent burning and brushing with reserved marinade during last 5 minutes of grilling, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter and serve.

3b. Baked/Broiled: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and place broiling rack on top. Spray rack with nonstick spray.  Place chicken in single layer on rack and bake 45-50 min until juices run clear from chicken, flipping once halfway through cooking. 
Change oven to broil, flip chicken pieces so they are skin-side up and broil until skin is crisp, 3-5 min. Transfer to platter and enjoy!

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Cafe Sushi - Cambridge


I am in love with this small, unassuming sushi place in Cambridge, between Harvard and Central Sq. The name is unfortunate, though perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise as it keeps people away :)

It’s called Cafe Sushi and it’s fantastic!

We’ve been here multiple times but only recently treated ourselves to the Omakase  – chef’s choice.

It is about 18 pieces of fish and very reasonably priced at $85-90 depending on what they have that day. They also offer a sake pairing for $50 which I highly recommend as well.

The night started with edamame and a very interesting green tea:

Genmai-Cha: green tea with roasted brown rice. I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle but prominent notes of the brown rice – a really great pairing to the fish

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The chef chooses most of the Omakase fish from the ‘in season’ menu which changes frequently. We ended up trying most of the list

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They also have an extensive sake menu, each course gets a glass of sake, about 7 in total (!). They were paired beautifully and thoughtfully with each dish.

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Course 1:
Japanese Winter Yellow Tail with kumquat
paired with Dewaturu sake

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The nice tart citrus from the kumquat was perfect with the sweetness of the yellow tail.

 

Course 2:
Japanese Fluke with a small piece of the rudder and scallions

Japanese Striped Jack with lemon, bonito flakes and sea salt
Served with Kanaba sake

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Japanese Rudder fish with sea salt
Japanese Sea Bream with lemon and wasabi oil

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Course 3:
Japanese Butterfish with finger limes

Local Red fish with miso, wasabi and cucumber (very refreshing)
Paired with Mu sake

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Japanese Knife-Jaw Snapper with wasabi leaf
Japanese Barracuda with ginger and scallion

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Course 4:
Nantucket Bay Scallops with seaweed and lightly pickled cucmbers
Served with Tentaka Kuni sake

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This was probably my least favorite course, though I’m not a huge fan of raw scallops.

 

Course 4:
Japanese Horse Mackerel
Local Spanish Mackerel with pickled eggplant
– this was my favorite dish! I tend to stay away from mackerel since I usually find it too fishy, but when talking with the sushi chef, I discovered that Spanish mackerel is very different from the others and doesn’t taste fishy at all – it may become my new go-to fish!

Paired with a sake that was great, but I can’t remember for the life of me

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Soy-cured Canadian Arctic Char with lime
Machias Maine Hoji-Cha Smoked Salmon with lime zest
– another delightful surprise! Again, I tend to find most smoked salmon to be very fishy (great on bagels with cream cheese, but not so much in sushi). This, however, was perfectly smoked and still had the essence of salmon sushi. 

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Course 5:
Japanese Golden-Eye Snapper with wasabi leaf
Japanese Amberjack
Japanese Striped Jack with blood orange (yum!)
– this was a great comparison of different preparations of very similar tasting fish

Paired with Watari sake

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Course 6:
Bafun Uni (Maine sea urchin)
– I am a HUGE fan of uni, but I  have to say that I have been underwhelmed by east coast uni, perhaps that’s why I wasn’t thrilled about this one, even though it was very good.

Paired with Ichishima junmai sake

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The meal was fantastic! I will definitely be treating myself to this many times over in the very near future.

Cafe Sushi always has the freshest fish and wonderful ingredient pairings that never overpower the subtle flavors of each particular piece of fish.

It is a MUST try! (just don’t tell too many people) :)