Poblano Rice

First there were the green mashed potatoes, otherwise known as Ina's Basil Potato Puree.  Now there's this glorious green rice, otherwise known as Poblano Rice.  I guess I'm really going green these days.

I got this terrific recipe from one of my favorite cooking shows, Marcela Valladolid's Mexican Made Easy. I don't get to watch the show often, but when I do I usually end up wanting to make every single thing she makes.  Marcela's recipes tend to be simple, straightforward, and relatively healthy at the same time.  A winning combination if you ask me.  I've tried many of her recipes over the past year and they've all been repeats.

In this recipe Marcela has you saute a combination of onion, poblano peppers, and garlic.  Once sauteed they are boiled briefly to soften and then blended with chicken broth to create a very flavorful green cooking liquid for the rice. There are two secrets to making this rice. The first is to toast the rice before adding the liquid. The second is to NOT STIR the rice as it is cooking! If you are worried about the rice sticking, go ahead and use a nonstick pan (just be careful not to scar your pan when you fluff the rice).

This rice is absolutely fantastic!  It's perfectly light and fluffy, has a hint of heat from the poblanos, and of course it's got the fun green color.  We made this early in the week and served it with some chicken enchiladas.  We loved it so much that we craved it again and decided to go ahead and have tacos just as an excuse to have the rice yet again.  If you really want to spice things up, use jalapenos instead of poblanos.  Either way, you really can't go wrong.  This really is a fantastic recipe that makes for a great side dish to all your Mexican-inspired dishes.

 Poblano Rice

Adapted from Marcela Valladolid @ Food Network

Serves 4-6

3 tablespoons vegetable/canola oil, divided

1/2 medium white onion, chopped

2 poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1or 2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup chicken broth, plus more if needed

1 cup long grain rice

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium, heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the poblano chiles and saute, about 8 minutes. Mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with the salt and pepper. Add 1 cup broth and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let cool. 

Transfer the mixture to a blender and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure the liquid yield from the blender, adding more chicken broth if necessary to yield 2 total cups of poblano liquid. Adjust seasoning to taste.


Meanwhile, clean the skillet, place over medium heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Fry the rice until slightly golden. Pour the poblano puree into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cover tightly. Cook for 30 minutes, turn off the heat and let rest for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Here are some links to more recipes we enjoy from Marcela Valladolid:

Jalapeno Roasted Chicken - This is probably one of our favorite chicken dishes.  We love it so much that we had this for Thanksgiving last year.
Chile and Cheese Rice -  Would be perfect for all the fresh corn in season right now.  Perfect side dish to the Jalapeno Roasted Chicken.
Vanilla-Pineapple Water - A creamy, fruity, refreshing drink perfect for this time of year.
Easiest Ever Chicken Mole Enchiladas - A quick and tasty version of mole.
Creamy Poblano Pepper Strips (Rajas) - A creamy and cheese corn and poblano dish perfect for serving in a taco or with a taco.
Sauteed Potatoes and Chorizo -  Again, perfect for stuffing in a taco, serving on the side, or for breakfast.

Jalapeno Roasted Chicken, Chile and Cheese Rice, and Vanilla-Pineapple Agua Fresca

I've really been enjoying Marcela Valladolid's new show Mexican Made Easy. I love the way Marcela uses Mexican flavors and turns them into fresh, light and gorgeous dishes. On a recent episode entitled "Mexican Family Style", Marcela made a Jalapeno Roasted Chicken and it made me wonder why I hadn't ever thought of something like that before. I watched her as she made a jalapeno paste out of oregano, butter, garlic, shallot, jalapeno, olive oil and salt and pepper. She rubbed it under the chicken skin and then she rubbed it all over the chicken. I got out my grocery list and started making notes!

I knew that Marcela's Jalapeno Roasted Chicken was going on the menu right away, but then she carried on making a delicious looking rice with fresh corn and poblano peppers. I watched her pour Mexican crema over the rice and top it with Monterey Jack cheese and set it under the broiler to melt and brown.

As soon as she pulled her Chile and Cheese Rice out of the oven I knew I had to make that too! Do you know what she had the nerve to do next?

She whipped up a batch of Vanilla-Pineapple Agua Fresca right before my eyes! I watched as she cut up a fresh pineapple and placed it in a blender with vanilla, water and a bit of sugar. She poured that golden pineapple juice into a glass pitcher and it looked so creamy and frothy. I was captivated. I was excited. I knew I had to make the entire meal and fast!

Notes/Results: This was such a wonderful Sunday supper! I loved every component. The chicken skin turned a perfect golden brown and was crispy crunchy. The breast meat was incredibly moist with just the right hint of heat from the jalapeno. (The kids ate the legs and thighs which weren't as spicy because the jalapeno paste is only rubbed under the skin of the breast meat). I had some potatoes to use up so I placed them under the chicken as it roasted and they turned out so tender, buttery, and flavorful. The rice was so aromatic with a wonderful toasty flavor. The poblano pepper added a nice mellow heat to the rice and I loved the pop from the corn kernels. The Monterey Jack on top of the rice adds such a lovely quality and doesn't over take the taste of the rice at all. The Vanilla-Pineapple Agua Fresca is the perfect sipper for this meal. It's gorgeous, sweet, frothy and refreshing! I loved everything about this meal and found it exciting and new. I'll definitely be making it again and highly recommend it.

You can find the links to all three recipes HERE on the Food Network website.

Taco Night: Sauteed Potatoes with Chorizo and Creamy Poblano Pepper Strips

It was a busy weekend here at Stirring the Pot. One thing after another, you all know how that goes. We spent the bulk of the weekend getting two cars fixed and neither one ended up being right. My husband's work vehicle broke down Thursday night, spent Friday in the shop, ran fine for an hour or so and then broke down again on Saturday. We're crossing our fingers that they can get it right this time around. My car wasn't broken, but we had an appointment to have a leather seat replaced. The shop replaced the seat alright....in a different color! Sometimes I really wonder what goes on in people's heads. It seems like it is nearly impossible to get what you pay for these days and that is a shame.

Frustrated and famished, I cooked up two different types of taco fillings. The first was Sauteed Potatoes with Chorizo and the second was Creamy Poblano Pepper Strips (Rajas). Both recipes were featured on the new Food Network Show, Mexican Made Easy. I have to admit that I'm still not sure what I think of the show itself, but I have loved all three recipes I've tried so far.


The Sauteed Potatoes and Chorizo were super easy and delicious. You can find Marcela's recipe posted HERE on Food Network. Mexican chorizo is sauteed with onion and boiled red-skinned potatoes to make a delicious, easy and unique taco filling. The recipe makes a ton of food and is great the next morning as a filling in an omelet or folded into scrambled eggs. We really liked it!

The next recipe,and our favorite, is the Creamy Poblano Pepper Strips, also known as Rajas, found HERE on the Food Network website.


The recipe for Rajas begins by blackening six poblano peppers, steaming them, and removing both the skins and seeds. The peppers are cut into strips and added to a mixture of sauteed onion and corn. This dish is finished off by the addition of heavy cream, creme fraiche, and monterey jack cheese. This recipe is SO good! It is tasty on it's own, but is delicious in a corn tortilla. I made a few changes to the recipe which I will note below.

Notes/Results: Creamy, unique and delicious, the Rajas were our favorite. I made a few changes to the pepper and corn filling because I have a major aversion to creme fraiche and sour cream. I replaced the creme fraiche with cream cheese and found that my mixture was a little too dry, requiring more heavy cream (oh darn!). The poblano peppers aren't hot at all, but did add a nice mellow pepper flavor to the filling. Even my picky daughter liked the poblano pepper and corn filling. Tucked inside of some delicious corn tortillas, both fillings were delicious!

Warning: While both recipes are delicious, they do make a ton of food! Luckily we loved both recipes and have been happy to have them as leftovers throughout the weekend. Both recipes would be great for a larger family or a gathering. In fact, they were featured as part of a Mexican Cookout on Marcela's show.

P.S. I was so hungry I snapped the pictures as quick as I could and got busy eating! Sometimes it's so hard to stop and take the time to worry about getting good pics!

Cook the Books: Easiest Ever Chicken Mole Enchiladas

Like water for chocolate is part love story, part fantasy and a whole lot of food. It is a tale of true love, family traditions and family secrets. Tita and Pedro are madly in love, but they are forbidden to marry because Tita is bound by family tradition, as the youngest child, to take care of her mother. Tita's mother is a force to be reckoned with and forbids Tita to marry Pedro. In an act of desperation, and also to remain close to Tita, Pedro asks for the hand of her oldest sister. Heartbroken, Tita stands by as the love of her life marries her sister.

Tita, who was born into the kitchen, puts all of her love and emotions into her food, preparing elaborate meals. Her food is magical, illicting powerful emotions to those who eat her meals.

A tragic love story with magical food, Like Water For Chocolate, was a great read.

Inspired to make a recipe containing chocolate, I had my heart set on making Mole. I found the perfect recipe while watching the new Food Network show, Mexican Made Easy with Marcela Valladolid. Her Easiest Ever Chicken Mole Enchiladas looked amazing and take only one hour. I was instantly sold on making this recipe.

Marcela's Mole is about as quick and simple as they come. The sauce begins with 5 dried ancho chiles which are reconstituted in hot water for 15 minutes. While the chiles are reconstituting, grill two corn tortillas until crisp and crumble into pieces. In a saute pan, saute one and a half onions (chopped) and 2 cloves of garlic (minced) until translucent. Transfer seeded chiles, crisp corn tortillas, onions, garlic, one tablespoon of sugar, 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter, 1-3/4 cups chicken broth, and one teaspoon oregano to a blender and blend until smooth. Add sauce back to saute pan and simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in 5.5 ounces of Mexican chocolate (Ibarra preferred) and season with salt and pepper. (Here is a picture of the Ibarra Mexican chocolate. I was expecting it to be bittersweet, but you can actually see how crystallized it is with sugar. It has a cinnamony bite and is delicious all on it's own).


The enchiladas go together pretty easily. Two chicken breasts are coated in oil, salt and pepper and baked for approximately 20 minutes. When removed from the oven, shred the chicken with two forks.

Marcela suggests dipping the corn tortillas in hot oil to soften them and make them pliable. Once dipped in the oil, she dips them into the mole sauce, fills them with 1/3 cup shredded chicken and rolls them up. Extra mole is poured over the enchildas and they are topped with Queso Fresco and Mexican crema.


Disclaimer: I'm sure that this is probably the easiest mole ever, but it was still messy and quite time-consuming. I'm talking lots of pots and pans, blenders and so on. Saying that, as far as moles go, it was really easy, quick and a lot less ingredients than a traditional mole.

Notes/Results: I enjoyed making this recipe. I love the chance to cook with new ingredients and explore in the kitchen. The Mexican chocolate is literally delicious and I can see myself using it for many other recipes. The recipe was well-written and went together perfectly. The mole had a very complex flavor, a little spicy, a little sweet, a little nutty. The smell of the mole reminded me of my favorite authentic Mexican restaurant. The recipe was good, just not my personal favorite. I'm glad I had the chance to try it, but I still prefer my enchiladas with red sauce.

Queso Fresco is also my Cheese of the Month. I went to a special Mexican grocer in Lexington looking for Queso Fresco(fresh cheese) and I was very happy to find it. It has a crumbly texture and a mild flavor which paired nicely with these enchiladas. True Queso Fresco will become soft when warmed, but does not melt. It can be used as you would use any other mild crumbly cheese, but mostly is served as a topping or a garnish. Marcela suggests using Feta cheese in place of Queso Fresco. The two cheeses do have the same texture, but Feta is full of flavor whereas Queso Fresco is really mild. I'm anxious to use the Queso Fresco in a simple recipe where it can really shine as part of the meal.

This is my submission for this round of Cook the Books, hosted by Rachel of The Crispy Cook, Johanna of Food Junkie Not Junk Food, and Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.