Chicken, Jalapeño and Cheddar Casserole

By tulawdog

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 red bell pepper
• 3 jalapeños
• 1 onions
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 cup grated cheddar
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 oz butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder
• nutmeg
• pepper
• salt

Preparation

Step 1

If your jalapeños are spicier, use 2 of them. Remove the seeds and membranes and chop them up.

Slice the onion in half-rings.

Slice the bell pepper in rings.

And grate the garlic.

Place the chicken breasts in an oven dish and season them with a generous amount of salt and pepper.

Heat the oil and lightly sauté the vegetables.

Keep them moving around. As soon as the peppers get pliable, divide them over the chicken.

Put the chicken in the oven and bake at 350F (175C) for 20 minutes.

Gives you time to grate the cheddar.

Mix the flour and mustard powder.

Heat the butter.

Add the garlic to the butter and give it a few seconds before adding the flour.

Keep stirring the roux while you cook it for 2 minutes.

Pour in the milk and stir like a madman. Lumps are bad! Lumps are evil! I stopped at 1 1/2 cups of milk, but go for a consistency you like.

Season the sauce with 1/2 a tsp salt (you can add more later) and a good pinch of pepper.

And this is what elevates the sauce; a dash of nutmeg. Literally a dash.

Since my jalapeños were more like glorified bell peppers, I also added quite a bit of cayenne pepper to the sauce. Melt the cheese into the sauce and check the seasoning.

After those 20 minutes are up, you crank up the oven (475C – 250C) and pour the sauce all over the chicken.

Pop the chicken back into the oven for another 10 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the sauce is bubbly hot and golden brown. There’s plenty of cheese sauce in the casserole for the noodles!

This, noodles, and some steamed broccoli on the side is all you need to get 2011 off to a good start.