Habanero Cream Sauce

We had a bumper crop of jalapeno and habanero peppers. We have already made enough pepper jelly and hot sauce to get us through the winter, but I continued to ponder another recipe idea for the habaneros.

A friend of mine from Florida once mentioned his wife loved to make chicken with a habanero sauce. I decided to make a cream sauce thinking it would mellow the peppers.

It was a simple recipe except for roasting the peppers and having to pull out my food processer which is usually tucked away since I do not use it daily. I can grumble, but it was the perfect way to puree the peppers into a lovely paste. Next, I made a roux of butter and flour followed by slowly adding half and half along with the roasted habanero paste. I finished it with salt, pepper, and a pinch of paprika.

It was the perfect sauce with just enough heat to enhance the flavor of the chicken. I am thrilled to have found another use for those beautiful peppers!