One of the First Reader’s favorite dishes at a local Mexican restaurant is Pollo Azteca, a creamy dish with chicken, mushrooms, and a hint of spice. Ok, more than a hint. I decided I wanted to try and replicate it at home – for one thing, we can’t manage eating out very often for time and budget reasons. For another thing, he routinely turns up his nose at chicken, so any recipe including it that he likes is worth cultivating.
I did a little poking around, and couldn’t come up with a recipe for Aztec Chicken that looked anything like what the restaurant served. But I did see a creamy chicken recipe I thought I could work with. Being me, I couldn’t leave it alone, though. For one thing, the reviews of the recipe I linked all complain about the salt from adding chicken base, and I didn’t want to add that. We like salt, but I could see the proportions were off. Also, I’m using my smoked Spanish paprika, so I had to adjust that…
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 c half and half
- 1 c Mexican crema
Instructions
- Saute the onions until translucent, then add the chicken and cook until opaque. Saute with the spices to fully develop the flavors.
- Add the half and half and simmer with the mushrooms for about ten minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the crema. Serve over rice.
The result? Wasn’t what he’s had at the restaurant. But he did like it, and so did I, so we’ll repeat this one! It’s spicy, even with tapering back the paprika. But it’s really good, creamy, and lots of mushrooms which we love. Oh, and I discovered by serendipity that sprinkling fresh lemon thyme on it for a garnish was a lovely touch of citrus in a dish that is rich.
