chicken glazed with guava Baked in Banana leaf!

Directions

1. Place first 6 ingredients in a blender. this will be your glaze and sauce Chop (or lower speed at first) about a minute. Then liquefy (or high speed) until it’s all incorporated and smooth. Divide in two and set aside. precook, cool slightly and gently flatten with a spoon your plantains.
2. clean banana leaf. (mine comes from my backyard. You can barter with a neighbor, purchase in an ethnic foods store or use parchment, or foil)
3. Using a small saucepot place half of the guava mixture into pan and cook to it reaches a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook to thicken.
4. In a sauté pan on medium heat, drizzle some oil to coat the bottom. Add onions, sauté and stir for a few moments. Add bell peppers and hot pepper slices. Season and sauté to light brown. Add to guava sauce simmering on the stove.
5. Again sauté pan on the stove. Medium. Oil the bottom of the pan. Wait for it… wait for it…. Now add the chicken. Do not overcrowd the pan for it will actually start steaming instead of sautéing. A few minutes on each side to about 2/3 done. Remember the guava sauce remaining somewhere on your counter? Not the one still on the stove. The other one. Yes that one. Add that to the chicken. Let cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and cool down enough to handle.
6. On a clean workspace lay down your cleaned and patted dry banana leaf. Cut down the center to remove the rib. You can either cut into pieces now or wait until last step. I think if you can eyeball the size you need, do it now. You will need to be able to wrap one piece of chicken plus some room. So if you have thighs cutting each piece into a 4x4 is plenty. Tip. Make sure you count your chickens pieces so you know how many you ll need. It will save you from jumping over your neighbor’s fence for more banana leaf
7. Lay your cut banana leaf on a sheet pan. Place one piece of chicken, coated in guava glaze in the center of the banana leaf. Top with one lightly spoon flattened sweetened plantain on top of the chicken. Repeat until all chicken is gone
8. When all the chicken has been used, fold the banana leaf over the chicken and flip the set to where the ends are underneath. Repeat. Place in the oven for 10 minutes with enough water on the sheet pan to help cover the bottom. This helps with moisture.
9. Grab a glass of wine. You’ve earned it. Or make a salad, dice fruit and some brown rice. They pair very well with this. Ok times up. Put the wine down. Remove from oven. Remove from sheet pan with a flat spatula… think pancake flipper here. No tongs. Serve with the side of thickened guava and pepper onion mix on the stove. A few wedges of lime adds a fresh kick. Enjoy. Save a piece for tomorrow. It makes a great sandwich with smoke Gouda cheese.
10. I am thischickcancook. You can find me on thischickcancook.com, like me on thischickcancook Facebook page and catch me on most weekends at Jaxon Social. One way or another… I hope you come and say hello. In the meantime. Please help us support our local farmers and chefs.