Chicken Margarita

This is a new take on the whole tequila and chicken combination. It actually was my husband's idea because the other night I wanted to make my chicken Picatta but was out of wine, so he suggested I use tequila. To be honest the whole idea of chicken plus tequila in a dish totally peaked my interest so I began to research chicken and tequila recipes. While I found a few recipes I liked, for some reason the combos I found were not completely working for me. In my head I had the notion of tomatoes and fresh mozzarella for this dish. So I created a new recipe to reflect my taste.

This was well received by both husband and kids. It is pretty easy...most of the work is in the preparation of the vegetables with regards to all the chopping and that can be done well ahead of time.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

2 T butter

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

3/4 c. chicken broth

4 T tequila

3 T lime juice

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, un-drained

1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cubed
cumin, onion and garlic powder for seasoning

1/2 cup half-n-half

dash of black pepper

10 oz. fettuccine

Fresh mozzarella sliced or

cubed into small pieces

Method:

Place a pot on the stove with salted water and heat to a boil for pasta. In a deep saucepan saute the cilantro, garlic and jalapeno in 2 T of melted butter for about 3 minutes. Add the broth, tequila and lime juice and cook for another 5-8 minutes or until the mixture is reduced by half. Then you can go ahead and add the bell peppers and onion and saute until the vegetables become soft. In the meantime add the fettuccine to boiling water and cook according to package directions for pasta to be done al dante.

To prepare the chicken just rinse and pat it dry, then pound it down flat. Season the meat with a little cumin, onion and garlic powder, plus salt and pepper. I like my meat grilled so I cooked the breast on my Foreman grill, but you can also grill it on a conventional grill, just don't overcook or you will loose too much of the meat's juice. When the chicken has cooled some, cut it into bite size cube pieces.

Once vegetables are soft add the cubed chicken and cook through. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes and then stir in the half-n-half and heat through. When the sauce thickens toss with the pasta and mozzarella, season with pepper and then serve immediately. Garnish with more cilantro and enjoy!

XO

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