Culichi Sauce a la Ruben

My friend Ruben gets a lot of air time here on my blog.  You have heard me speak fondly of him many, many times, especially in regards to chorizo :)  Well, this post surprisingly has NOTHING to do with chorizo but everything to do with Ruben!!  My wonderful friend came up with an amazing sauce recipe... tweaked it...tweaked it some more... tweaked it a bit more... than finally shared it with me to share with you.  And I am incredibly excited to do so!!

Let me just say... this sauce SOOOOOO delivers in the flavor department.  It has a bit of a kick, but not so much that it should deter you from making it.  You can pour this sauce on chicken and bake it, you can use it as a dipping sauce for any type of meat (as I am doing here), you can even use it cold as a dip with tortilla chips (I tried this and it was AMAZING!!!)!  I mean it is that good and that versatile.  And we all know how much I love versatility in my recipes.

Now, I have tweaked this just a tad bit. Ruben used green peppers, I used poblano peppers.  Ruben roasted his peppers and onions in the oven, I, of course, used my grill.  Other than that, I pretty much followed his recipe to the T.  So, I will stop rambling and finally get to sharing this delicious sauce recipe with you...

Thanks, Ruben, for the fantastic recipe!!

(p.s. as for the chicken, it was simply spiced with a spice mixture I used on fish - CLICK HERE for the recipe and just use chicken instead of fish.  The Mexican spices went really well with this sauce.) 

Culichi Sauce a la Ruben
Recipe courtesy Ruben (with just a few minor tweaks)
- Makes about 2 Cups -
Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers
1/4 sweet onion
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5 jarred jalapeno slices
1/2 teaspoon juice from jarred jalapenos
2 Tablespoons cilantro
1/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons chicken broth

Directions:
Preheat grill to 375 degrees F.  Drizzle olive oil over the outside of the poblano and onion and season with salt and pepper.  Place both directly over the fire.  For the poblano - let all sides become nicely charred, this should take about 10 minutes (give or take).  Remove from grill and place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes and remove the charred outer skin.  Remove the stem and seeds (ok, I left a few of the seeds) and roughly chop.  Set aside.  For the onion - let onion grill about 3 minutes per side..or just enough to slightly soften them.  You want to get just a little char on it too for the extra flavor..just just a little!  Remove from grill and allow to cool.  Roughly chop and set aside.

In a blender, add the onion and pulse until diced.  Add the yogurt, oil, jalapeno slices and juice, cilantro, cheese, garlic powder and salt.  Blend until just combined.  With the motor still going, start dropping the poblano pieces into the blender.  Blend until smooth and silky.

In a saucepan, over medium-low heat, add the sauce.  Simmer sauce until it heats through and thickens a little, about 5-8 minutes.  Serve with any meat dish as a sauce, or use as a warm/cold dip with tortilla chips.  Sauce refrigerates well and can be stored for up to a week.  Enjoy!

One Year Ago:  Grilled Pork Chops with Adobo Paste
Two Years Ago:  Cinnamon Swirl Loaf