This spicy chicken sets your tongue aflame. Of course, you can temper the heat by not adding the cayenne and holding back on the chipotles. While the heat level may be sky-high when freshly made, after sitting overnight, the inferno turns to a pleasant blaze.
What Are Chipotles?
They’re small jalapeño peppers that are dried, smoked and then preserved in adobo sauce. (A dark red sauce made from ground chilies, herbs and vinegar.) Buy them in small cans in the Mexican section of supermarkets. When you remove a pepper from the can, don’t rinse off the sauce clinging to it. Refrigerate leftovers in a jar or freeze. If you can’t find chipotles, use 1 tsp (5 mL) chipotle-flavoured Tabasco for each chipotle pepper called for in the recipe.
Make Ahead
The flavour improves and mellows as it sits. But if serving right away, go easy on the peppers unless you love heat. Refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months. Defrost before reheating. Add parsley and peel when serving.