Southwestern Risotto

As I mentioned yesterday, earlier last week I picked up a few pints of roasted hatch chile peppers intent on making two creative recipes with them. The first was the Hatch Chile Chicken Salad, and the second was this Southwestern Risotto. I have never before thought to use peppers of any variety in a risotto, having previously associated the dish with subtler flavor profiles such as mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus, and the like. Thursday, however, as I was walking around the produce section at Central Market, Hatch peppers in hand I knew I wanted to see how it would taste in risotto.

So I picked up some corn and cherry tomatoes that I knew would complement the peppers well and picked up a chicken breast to bake and I was ready to give it a whirl. I decided to grill the corn to give a smokiness to the kernels and to go along with the roasted flavor of the peppers. Additionally, I roasted the tomatoes, largely because I much prefer the taste of tomatoes when they are cooked as opposed to raw. I baked a chicken breast half to add, but you could easily use meat from a rotisserie chicken or leftover baked chicken from the night before to simplify the process.

The result was absolutely delicious! The sweetness of the corn and tomatoes was the perfect contrast to the slight heat of the peppers. The chicken added a nice bit of protein, an essential component for any meal for my husband!

One quick note before the recipe. I recently purchased a jar of chicken bouillon for a recipe and it saved me from disaster on this meal! You see, I was well into the risotto process when I discovered I only had half of the chicken broth I needed for the recipe. When I remembered I had chicken bouillon on hand I mixed some up with water, heated it in the microwave and I was ready to go! Crisis averted! So all that to say, it's a good idea to keep some chicken bouillon on hand just in case you find yourself in need of chicken broth at the last minute!

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Southwestern Risotto


Ingredients
1 cup arborio rice
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Chardonnay
4 cups chicken broth, heated
1/2 cup chopped Hatch peppers, roasted and peeled
2 ears of corn, kernels cut from the cob
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
Salt and Pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions
You will want to have the corn, chicken, tomatoes and peppers ready when you start the risotto process. Start with grilling the corn, I used my grill pan on the stove top to stay out of the heat. Heat the grill or grill pan over medium high heat and place the cobs directly on the grill.

Cook, turning every 2 minutes, for about 8-10 minutes until fully cooked.

Remove from the grill and cut the kernels from the cob. Place in a bowl and set aside.

While the corn is on the grill, cut the tomatoes in half and drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

If you purchase your hatch chile peppers already roasted, simply remove the skin and stem, chop and set aside. If you need to roast them yourself here's some great instructions.

Now that all the star ingredients are prepped, it's on to the risotto!
Melt a tablespoon of butter in a heavy bottomed large pot over medium- high heat.

Add the onions and saute until softened and browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 2 more minutes.

Season with a little salt and pepper then add the cup of arborio rice and stir to coat with the oil.

Pour in the cup of Chardonnay and stir until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid.

 Add a 1/2 cup of warmed chicken broth at a time, allowing the rice to absorb the liquid before adding the next 1/2 cup. Repeat until the rice has reached the desired texture, not mushy but with a little bite like al dente pasta.

Add in the corn,

 hatch peppers,

 chicken,

 and tomatoes,  Stir to combine.

Serve in a bowl and enjoy with a glass of Chardonnay.

Hatch Chile Chicken Salad

It's Hatch chile pepper time in the Southwest. If you aren't familiar with what that means, don't worry, I wasn't either until I moved to Dallas four years ago. Hatch chiles are a specific type of green chile grown in Hatch, New Mexico, and distributed to grocers nationwide in late August every year. The Hatch pepper is widely regarded as the cream of the chile pepper crop. It is similar in shape to the Anaheim pepper, but with a darker color, sometimes with an orange tint and a bigger bite.

Photo credit: Houston Chronicle

Since these green gems are only available once a year, devotees will buy them by the case, roast them and freeze them for later use. The beauty of freezing hatch peppers is that they only get hotter the longer you wait to use them! I havn't quite reached the level of buying hatch peppers by the case, but I definitely find myself called to Central Market every time I smell them roasting the peppers out front.

So, as usual, this week I purchased two containers of Hatch and was determined to create my own recipes that would feature my favorite pepper. Knowing that Robert and I would be hitting the road to drive to San Marcos to spend the long weekend with my parents, I decided that one recipe would need to be chicken salad.

What does chicken salad have to do with our road trip? Well, Robert and I have a tradition that whenever we are on a drive that will last through a meal, we like to pack food so that we aren't forced to stop and eat fast food along the way. We have specific criteria for what food we pack: it must be relatively healthy (aka not fried) and it must be easily consumed by the driver without impacting their ability to focus on the road. Chicken salad has been that solution!

Typically we purchase a tub of chicken salad from our favorite spot in Dallas, along with a sleeve of crackers and while we're driving I will put a spoonful of salad on a cracker and hand it to Robert to eat. This time we used my Hatch Chicken Salad instead for a delightful treat! I used my Orange Cranberry Chicken Salad recipe as a jumping off point and incorporated ingredients I thought would both complement and highlight the flavor of the pepper. Robert and I both agree, this chicken salad is unlike any we've ever tasted before! It's fresh and light tasting and every now and then has a slight kick from a stray seed. We highly recommend it!

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Hatch Chile Chicken Salad


Ingredients
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1/4 cup minced cilantro
1/2 cup chopped roasted hatch peppers

Instructions
In a bowl combine the mayonnaise, vinegar and lime juice.

 Whisk to combine.

In a larger bowl combine the chicken, shallots, peppers and cilantro.

 Pour in the mayo mixtures and stir to fully combine.

Attempt to store in a container until ready for your road trip only to find your husband sneaking a bite!

Enjoy with crackers, fruit and nuts for a light meal on a hot summer day.