Chalco Style Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce

Click here to go to printable recipe: Chalco Style Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce

As I mentioned in my previous post, growing up in Mexico City, whenever there was a family daytrip to see the Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl volcanoes in Central Mexico, it was our custom to stop by nearby towns, often looking for handcrafts, and one time even riding horses; the regular stop, though, was always the town of Chalco (now a city), where we would buy local dairy products from Cremería Chalco. This establishment was founded as a family business in 1951, starting with their cheese brand Los Volcanes™, and also selling sandwiches and creamy desserts, catering to hungry or tetchy tourists; the company prospered, later offering their products at supermarkets and a few franchises, and nowadays, the original store has a full-menu restaurant.

When browsing through their menu, I was not surprised to find several buttery or creamy dishes, and others dressed with cheese sauces; my recipe in this post was inspired by one of those items: Pechuga “Los Volcanes” – “The Volcanoes” Chicken Breast, described as “pechuga de pollo 150 g., bañada con salsa de queso, acompañada de verduras y arroz”, which translates as “150g. chicken breast, dressed with cheese sauce, paired with vegetables and rice. ” I also found a recipe for “Valley of Chalco style chicken breasts” online, with chicken cutlets and a cream cheese and chipotle sauce, served with steamed veggies and crusty bread. So for my recipe, I tweaked elements from both sources, still using chicken cutlets, cream cheese and chipotle peppers in adobo, adding chopped bacon as a topping, and I decided to sauté the veggies for a more flavourful side, and serve with crusty bread.

If chicken cutlets are not available at the store, start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Work with one piece at a time; wipe with a paper towel, then, holding on a cutting board with the smooth (skin) side down, make a horizontal cut about one third of the thickness from the top, and stop just before separating the slice (photo below, left). Turn chicken around and open the thicker side in the same manner, to form a “trifold” butterflied breast in one piece (photo below, right):

Repeat with the rest of the chicken breast pieces. Sometimes I cook with the pieces just like that, but for cutlets, cut each opened breast in half, then place each half between plastic sheets, and flatten to an even thickness with the flat side of a meat pounder or other heavy utensil, such as a rolling pin, or a large spoon:

Chalco Style Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce –

Pollo con salsa de queso crema estilo Chalco

Printable recipe: Chalco Style Chicken with Cream Cheese Sauce

Ingredients (for six portions)

6 chicken cutlets, halved
8 oz (227 g) cream cheese
1 cup milk
1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo (homemade, or from can)
4 tbsp butter; divided
1 tbsp oil
3 slices good quality bacon; fried and chopped (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Side dish – Sautéed Chayote and Carrots
Ingredients
1 chayote squash; washed
2 large carrots; washed
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper, to taste

Prepare veggies: Remove ends from carrots, then peel. Using the vegetable peeler, slice carrots into thin ribbons (photo below, left); set aside. Slice chayote in half, then peel and slice finely (photo below, right):

Cover and reserve.

For the sauce, set up all the ingredients:

Place cream cheese, milk, chipotles, one teaspoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of pepper in a blender jar (photo below, left). Process well until very smooth (photo below, right):

Melt two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over low/medium heat (photo below, left); pour in the cheese sauce (photo below, centre), then cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is hot, being careful not to let it boil; adjust seasoning with more salt, to taste (photo below, right):

Turn off heat, cover, and keep warm until serving time.

Finish veggies: In a large frying pan over medium heat, melt two tablespoons of butter, then add reserved veggies (photo below, left). Cook for a few minutes, stirring, just until veggies are cooked, but still crunchy (photo below, right):

Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Transfer to a covered bowl, keep warm until serving time.

Cook chicken: Return the frying pan to the stove, add one tablespoon of oil, then half a tablespoon of butter; once the butter has melted, add a few pieces of chicken in a single layer. Cook until the edges look opaque (photo below, left), then flip and continue until fully cooked inside, but still juicy (photo below, right):

Transfer to a covered bowl, then continue cooking the rest of the chicken, adding half a tablespoon of butter to the pan in between batches.

Plate as soon as chicken is ready. Place a portion of veggies on a dinner plate, next to two pieces of chicken. Cover chicken with reserved sauce (photo below, left). Finish with some chopped bacon (if using), on top of the sauce:

Serve immediately with crusty bread on the side:

In spite of all the bacon, cream cheese and butter used in this recipe, the result was a very well balanced and surprisingly light plate. The chipotle peppers gave the sauce another layer of flavour, and a beautiful blushed colour. The crusty bread was perfect to sop up all that creamy cheese sauce, and I can see a nice portion of white rice being a good option, as well.

Cheeses, cream and butter were always nice to bring home from Chalco, but what would propel us kids into a delirious squirm was the desserts; milk jellies so creamy they left behind a layer of cream to lick at the end, and fresh fruit ice cream, such as mamey, mango, and the feature of my next post, ice cream in an orange.

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