Chile de Arbol Shredded Chicken – AKA: I Went Off the Cuff Overboard with This One

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Well, I had a plan, initially, for how I wanted this recipe to go. I knew I wanted spicy and delicious shredded chicken thighs as the main focus. When I was adding sides to the meal, I saw what I had on hand…and, well…used all of it.

Chiles de Arbol are some of my favorite dried peppers, as I love both their spice and flavor that compliment anything with which I pair them without overpowering. Shredded chicken goes well in tacos, on sandwiches, or on its own. The two together are such a great, inexpensive spicy and savory combo that is delicious and can fit into any diet plan.

Putting this whole thing together was such a joy and is why I love cooking. Everything here is based off of existing recipes, but I didn’t follow anything as they are traditionally supposed to be. Don’t be afraid to just throw some stuff together and see if it fits. Even though there’s a lot here, it’s all really rather simple and a great exercise in managing multiple dishes within one meal. You don’t even have to make everything here and just pick and choose what you want. In the end, enjoy yourself, and your food and any company that might come along.

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Serving Size: 4 Hungry Anyones

Chicken:

• 4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs
• Kosher Salt
• Black Pepper
• Salsa:
  • 1 lb (~6) Roma Tomatoes
  • 6 Chiles de Arbol, whole
  • 1/2 Large White Onion, chopped
  • 6 Cloves of Garlic, whole
  • Juice from 1/2 a Lime (~1 Tbsp.)
  • Pinch of Sea Salt and Pepper, each

Beans and Corn (Frijoles con Elote):

• 1 15 oz. can of Black Beans
• 1 15 oz. can of Corn
• Sofrito:
  • 6 Chiles de Arbol, whole
  • 1/2 Large White Onion, chopped
  • 6 Cloves of Garlic, whole
  • 2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  • Pinch of Sea Salt and Pepper, each

• 1 Cup Long Grain White Rice
• 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

Garnish:

• Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
• Sour Cream or Crema
• Cilantro, diced
• Avocado
• Corn Tortillas

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1.) Let’s get this salsa made so we can marinade our chicken for a spell. We’re going to dry roast our ingredients, then blend them together. Dry roasting is toasting without any oil, so let’s use a stainless steel pan that doesn’t mind getting real hot. Heat it up to medium high and throw those chiles in. Let them char on one side for less than 30 seconds and then flip ’em around, continuing to char until you can smell a toasty aroma. This’ll be real quick, so pay attention! Remove them and put them into a small bowl of warm water to reconstitute while you make the rest of the salsa.

Trim the tomatoes and cut in half and put into the same pan. Introduce the diced onions and garlic cloves over time and let roast in the pan until everything is charred to your liking. Put the reconstituted chiles back into the pan, remove from the heat, and put into a blender or food processor. Add the lime juice, a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, each, and then blend until thoroughly mixed.

2.) Pat dry your chicken thighs and apply a thin layer of kosher salt and black pepper and put into a square baking dish. Pour the majority of the salsa over the chicken, leaving enough as a finishing topping and at minimum 3 tablespoons for the rice later. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for the bare minimum of half an hour, but if you have time, overnight is always best.

3.) When you are ready to cook, preheat your oven to 325 F, remove the plastic wrap and replace with aluminum foil, and plan to slow cook for 2 and 1/2 hours, low and slow. The good news is that now you have all the time in the world to mess up the rest of this recipe!

4.) Once that chicken is sittin’ nice and pretty in the oven, getting all cozy and warm, lets go round two with the dry roasting. The sofrito is basically going to be the exact same recipe as before, but minus the tomatoes. When making the salsa, one could have just doubled up the previous batch when toasting, removed the tomatoes and left half the batch in another bowl in the fridge. But I didn’t do that. I make life as hard as possible for myself…and you…because I love the challenge. Feel free to do it the easy way, but if you’re doing it the hard way, follow along.

Heat up your stainless steel pan to medium high and dry roast your peppers and remove (and reconstitute in warm water), then your onions until a little soft and charred, then add your garlic. Once again, add a pinch each of sea salt and pepper, but this time add 2 Tbsp. of chopped cilantro, then blend well in a blender or food processor.

5.) Add your corn and beans to a medium saucepan and begin to warm on medium. All you are doing here, since the ingredients are already cooked, is to warm and incorporate everything. Add all of your sofrito batch to the sauce pan and stir it up.

6.) Now we need some pretty basic rice. Take out yet ANOTHER medium saucepan (if you have one) Measure out 1 cup of rice, as well as the corresponding 2 cups of water. This is not a lesson in cooking rice, so you’ll have to go elsewhere for that. Once the water begins to get hot, add 3 tablespoons of the remaining salsa (that you may or may not have saved) to the rice/water mixture. You’ll want to make sure this is mixed before you begin steaming the rice so the flavor becomes uniform. This also adds color to the rice. Steam it up and set it aside.

7.) Now, whether you spent the entire 2.5 hours making the other dishes, or that was too basic for you and watched ‘Apocalypse Now’, laughing at how simple the other dishes were during the interim, the chicken should be ready to shred. Remove the baking dish from the oven, unwrap the foil, and proceed to pull apart the chicken with two forks. This may take a little while, but it’ll get done.

8.) You’re almost there, ALMOST THERE! Plate the whole thing up to your liking, and add your garnishes. I do enjoy putting a little of everything into a small corn tortilla, but that’s just me. Oh, and like, millions of other people. So, certainly do that. That’s all for now, and good luck with any leftovers.