Cooking Lesson #67— Queso Baked Chicken

Queso Baked Chicken

How you doin’? Get ready, this is a pop quiz. How long does it take to sous-vide a chicken breast? A few weeks ago, I shared the secrets of cooking sous vide-style. This is an open book test—refer to Cooking Lesson #8. Or, I’ll help you out here: Chicken Breasts or Thighs: 2.5 hours @ 137⁰F.
 
The main reason for sous vide cooking chicken breasts is the perfect texture you get every time. Plus, you always have some ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat-and-eat chicken in the fridge. This is one of these recipes, though you can make it with raw chicken breasts—it just take a little longer.
 
This sous vide-cooked chicken is spiced up with Southwestern spices and smothered with chopped tomatoes, green chiles, queso sauce, all topped with Cheddar (or Monterey Jack) cheese.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  20 minutes (if using sous-vide cooked chicken breasts)
Bake time:  50 minutes (if using raw chicken breasts)
Yield:  2 servings
 
Ingredients
2 sous vide-cooked chicken breasts, skinless and boneless (or raw breasts)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 can (10-ounces) Ro•tel diced tomatoes and mild green chiles
1 cup Chile Con Queso sauce, medium (On-the Border Queso jarred sauce)
1 cup Cheddar, shredded, or Monterey Jack cheese, or Cheddar & Monterey Jack mix
1/2 Roma tomato, chopped, for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro chopped, for garnish
 
Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° F.
2. Pull the sous vide-cooked or raw chicken breasts from the refrigerator to temper a little before baking—pat to dry with paper towels. Cooking anything from a refrigerator-cold state, only extends the cooking time and risks over-cooking the exterior while waiting for the interior to reach safe temperature.
3. Spray a baking dish with food release.
4. Place the chicken breasts in the baking dish.
5. Sprinkle chili powder, cumin, and salt over both sides of the chicken.
6. Top chicken breasts with half the Ro•tel
7. Spread Queso sauce evenly over each chicken breast.
8. Top chicken breasts with the remaining half of chopped tomatoes and canned green chiles.
9. Top chicken with shredded cheeses.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through, the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbly. If using raw breasts, cook for an additional 30 minutes until the chicken breasts reach 165° internal temperature.
11. Top with chopped tomato and chopped fresh cilantro, and serve.

 
ChefSecret:  

• If you are not using Ro•tel substitute with 1 cup diced tomato and 2-ounces of mild green chiles, drained and chopped.
• Make it a complete meal by starting with a layer of refried beans (1 can) or cooked rice (one pouch of Uncle Ben’s Ready Spanish Rice) in the bottom of the baking dish and then follow the directions above.
• I also like to add a 2-ounce layer of green sauce for added flavor (optional). 

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