Thursday 5 September 2013

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Blackberry-Ancho Sauce










My Australian readers are going to pull their hair out when they see this recipe. You see, no matter how often we are told that Mexican food is all the rage here, we still can't buy ancho chillies in our supermarkets...or guajillos, or mulatos! I'm not going to be convinced until I see cans of chipotle chillies in adobo sauce next to the salsas on my local supermarket shelves. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

NOTE: I order my essential Mexican staples online at Monteray Mexican Foods - I couldn't live without these guys.


Pan-Roasted Chicken with Blackberry-Ancho Sauce
slightly adapted from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook
Serves 4

For the Sauce:
3 Ancho chillies, stems and seeds removed
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons coriander, chopped
Sea Salt Flakes
1 cup port
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
6 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 cup blackberries (I used frozen)
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
1 heaped teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

For the Chicken:
1 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Sea Salt Flakes
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets
1/4 cup olive oil

Make the Sauce:
Put the ancho chillies into a bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Leave for 30 minutes to soften. Drain the chillies, reserving the soaking liquid and pop them into a blender. Add the garlic, coriander, 1 teaspoon salt flakes and 1/4 cup of the soaking liquid. Blend until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Put the port and red wine into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Add the ancho puree, pomegranate molasses, brown sugar, stock, and peppercorns and boil again until reduce by half.

Strain the mixture into a clean saucepan and return to the stove. Boil until reduced by half again. With all this boiling and reducing we are intensifying and concentrating the flavours of the finished sauce. Drop the blackberries into the sauce and cook for about 5 minutes, until they softened. Stir in the butter and when it has melted, add the cornflour-water mixture. Cook briefly until the sauce has thickened slightly and is glossy. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Season the chicken fillets well with salt. Put the flour in a large zip-lock bag and add the smoked paprika and cayenne pepper. Drop the chicken fillet into the bad, seal it and give it a good shake. The chicken should have an even coating of flour. Remove the chicken from the bag, shaking off any excess flour.

Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan or cast iron skillet and get it really hot. Place the chicken in the pan and cook until lightly browned. Turn the chicken over and put the pan into the preheated oven. Cook for about 8 -10 minutes until just cooked through. Rest the chicken on a board for 5 minutes.

Slice the chicken into 1cm wide slices and arrange on a serving platter. Spoon the warm sauce over.

16 comments:

  1. This looks DELICIOUS. I'm always trying to find other things to do with all the blackberries I pick in autumn other than crumbles and pies!

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    1. Thanks Amy. It's a great way to use blackberries in a savoury dish. Not too sweet and works really well with the slight heat and smokiness of the chillies.

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  2. Looks yummy. We are fortunate for markets that have many of the ingredients. Travel is required sometimes, but worth it if you use them a lot.

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    1. I guess the only good thing about buying my Mexican goodies online, is that I don't have to travel anywhere.

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  3. No way! You can't find those chilies in Australia??? Oh god :( Here they're in every harvest market...I should send you some :) & you're chichen is really interesting, I'm curious to taste the sauce. I'm sure it's delicious!

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    1. I can get these chillies in Australia, just not at my local supermarket... which is totally annoying.

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  4. This sounds absolutely delicious, and it's got some of my favorite ingredients in it...blackberries, chilies, and pomegranate molasses...yum!

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    1. Thanks Sue. I love all the flavours going on here too. Sweet, tart, subtle heat, smokiness. Does it get any better?

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  5. What a gorgeous, beautiful recipe.. I bet this would taste amazing with cherries too! We need to fix, the chilie situation in Australia. I'm on it. Who do I need to complain to? Do you think they'd listen to a crazy American?

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    1. Haha Maria. I knew you'd be on my side. If you could have a word to our Prime Minister (who's anyone's guess at the moment with a Federal election on tomorrow), that would be very kind of you.

      BTW: Good call with the cherries - they would be delicious here.

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  6. Oh wow this looks fantastic. I'm a huge fan of ancho chilies, but I never thought of pairing them with blackberry! Plus red wine? Yum!

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    1. Thanks Dustin. The smokiness of the ancho and the tart-sweetness of the blackberry really compliment each other... and the wine loves everyone... or is that, everyone loves the wine?

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  7. I freaking agree Jen. It's ridiculous, I had to drive an hour on Saturday to buy chipotles in adobo sauce (they were expensive too). I get my dried chillies online, mostly from Gewurzhaus. I actually have anchos at home at the moment, BOOYAH! Making this soon. Eating it immediately. I might share just a smidgeon with Aaron.

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    1. We need to do something about this chipotles in adobo sauce situation. Stage a coup? Hold someone to ransom? Chain ourselves to the doors of Woolworths? In the meantime, thank heaven for internet shopping.

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  8. That looks great but Port is from Portugal and not from Australia ... like champagne from France well :\ Love ur blog anyway great food and great recipes: Love From Portugal!

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    1. Thanks for your comment Therasia. Tawny is the name given to Australia’s most popular fortified wine style, formerly referred to as ‘Tawny Port’. Australia recently agreed to discontinue the use of the term ‘Port’ in line with international labeling agreements, with ‘Port’ now used exclusively by the Portuguese.** This is an older bottle I obviously bought before this rule was introduced.

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