IPA Chicken Stuffed Poblano Pepper

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of beer on this blog, but I’ve usually kept my food blogging and my beer blogging separate.

No longer.

There’s nothing new about bringing beer into the kitchen, but it’s typically darker brews that are incorporated into dishes – from Steak with Porter Reduction to Corned Beef slow-roasted in Guinness to Brown Ale Ice Cream Floats. That’s all well and good, but being a hop-head I wanted to take a run at incorporating IPA (India Pale Ale) into a recipe.

Different kinds of beer, just like wines, pair well with different foods. IPAs tend to fit best with spicier cuisines, such as Thai, Indian, Cajun and Mexican. Because I’ve been on something of a Mexican kick lately, I opted to try integrating an IPA into a classic dish – stuffed poblano peppers.

So, should hop-heads rejoice?

I wouldn’t. To be honest, the IPA flavor didn’t really permeate the chicken as well as I had hoped. Only on occasion did faint notes of hop come to the fore. The dish still tasted great – tender, flavorful chicken, roasted poblano, sharp cotija and refreshing salsa – but the beer just wasn’t a force in the palette.

The fundamentals of this dish are strong enough that I’d just recommend combining all the spices into a dry rub and saving the IPA to drink with dinner. While you’re doing that, I’ll continue searching for the perfect way to serve up IPA on a plate.

IPA Chicken Stuffed Poblano Pepper

• 2 chicken tenders
• 2 poblano peppers
• 1/4 cup cotija cheese, crumbled

Marinade

• 1 bottle of India Pale Ale
• 2 teaspoons lime zest
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper

Salsa

• 3 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 jalapeño, finely diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 10 cilantro leaves, chopped
• Juice of one lime

 

1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag or tuperware container. Add the chicken tenders and refrigerate for at least two hours, preferable overnight.
2. Using a barbecue, toaster oven or oven on broil, roast the poblano pepper for 4-6 minutes or until slightly tender. Make a lengthwise cut in the poblano and remove the seeds.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a chicken tender into each pepper, the peppers into a baking dish and the baking dish into the oven. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Remove the stuffed peppers from the oven and plate. Sprinkle cotija cheese and salsa on top and serve.

Tags: Beer, Chicken, Cilantro, Cotija, IPA, Mexican, Onion, Poblano, Salsa, Tomato