Now that is some good looking chicken.  Even the simplest of recipes can yield a complex result on occasion.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted margarine
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Grease a glass baking dish.  Wash chicken under cool water and pat dry with paper towels.  Set aside.  In a bowl combine all ingredients besides chicken and mix until uniform.  Spread mixture over entire surface of chicken, rubbing into the meat.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes until done.

While not my favorite chicken recipe of late, I mean its no Curried Chicken, this wasn’t half bad and we may make it again at a later date?

Ingredients
2 large chicken breasts
1/2 c corn
1/2 c black beans, canned or thoroughly soaked
1/2 c salsa
1 1/2 tsp ground chipotle peppers
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 c half and half
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
pepper-jack cheese (optional)
sour cream (optional)
cilantro (optional)

Instructions
Mix salsa, corn, beans, 1/2 tsp chipotle, and cumin in a bowl set aside.

Grease a glass baking dish big enough to hold both breasts.

Rinse and dry chicken.  Slice chicken to make a pocket to put stuffing in, don’t slice all the way through.  Spoon in half of stuffing or as much as will fit into each breast, use toothpicks to hold shut and place in pan.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350ºF.

While chicken is backing prepare glaze by combining half and half, remaining chipotle and basil in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer and cook until reduced by half, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and pour over the breasts after 30 minutes in oven.  Bake chicken for 10 more minutes or until the center reaches 160°F.

Serve over rice.  Top with sour cream, cilantro and/or pepper jack cheese.

I served mine over a simple rice made this afternoon in the rice cooker consisting of rice, cumin, garlic, onion, jalapeno, paprika, turmeric and a touch of oil.

Ingredients
White Rice
Chicken Breast
Pomegranate Seeds
Ground Chipotle
Ground Smoked Spanish Paprika
Old Bay (lets face it old bay makes everything better)
Parsley
Soy Sauce
Worcestershire Sauce (just a hint)
Onion
Garlic
Lime Juice
Whole Grain Mustard
Water

Instructions
Threw all that in the rice cooker and let it do its magic.  And it is magical.

With our company pot luck in mind I decided I might cook a dish up to remember and as we were asked to bring a ‘dish to pass’ what better dish to pass than some innocent looking corn bread.  So with that you might want the recipe which I scavenged out an old issue of Cooking Light, so here it is.

Ingredients
1 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c yellow cornmeal
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/3 c fat-free buttermilk
2 tbsp melted butter
1 1/2 tbsp chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
cooking spray

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425°F

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well. Combine buttermilk, butter, chiles, and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Fold in bacon. Pour batter into an 8-inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 425° for 18 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Of note in the haste of preparing this dish I did forget to include the baking powder and it still came out very nicely.

Well tomorrow will be the taste test, will have to see if I come home with any leftovers.

Edit: The cornbread was a hit last week at the potluck, infact it was so good I made another batch today minus the bacon to go with our chipotle and black bean soup, should be a spicey/tasty combo.