I haven’t been shy about my love for Chrissy Teigen and her blog, So Delushious!. I think most of my cooking posts have referenced her or a recipe she’s written about. And if you’ve browsed through her blog or follow her on Twitter (both of which you should do, by the way), you’ll know that the one food she raves most about and gets the most comments/tweets about is her chipotle marinade.
She’s mentioned this marinade ages ago, I think even before she had a blog, and it was actually featured on Young Married Chic first. I wanted to make it then, but I haven’t been able to find chipotle chilies in adobo in Manila (any tips, guys?). So I had to wait for my aunt from the US to bring some over.
My precious stash
I made the marinade on Thursday for Friday dinner. The recipe confused me a bit since it called for TWO chipotle chilies in adobo and, even with all the other ingredients, that didn’t seem enough to make marinade to feed 6-8 people. So I dumped the whole can in, and kind of just eyeballed everything else. My first taste told me that I put too much vodka in (although some people will argue you can never have too much vodka) and TOO LITTLE sugar. I like spice, but one whole can of chipotle chilis have a LOT of kick. I think I put in 5 times more sugar than I originally put. And also more ketchup. And more lime juice to brighten things up. And of course, the chicken thighs and legs.
Not exactly the safest thing to do...
No guys, I didn't burn it. It was just the light. I promise.
Don’t be fooled by the way it looks… this stuff is SOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD. It’s like the flavor baby of barbecue and buffalo wings, only, drunk with vodka and with garlic breath. The hotness of the chipotle chilies is unlike any other I’ve ever come across. They have a deeper, more complex flavor than just the pure fire most chilies have. And it creeps up on you very slowly. My first bite went like this: “Oh, that’s juicy, oh spicy… ohhhhhhhhh that’s hotttttt… oh, I want moooooooore.” Nomnomnomnomnom…
I would add more garlic (I love garlic everything) the next time I make this. Other than that, there’s really nothing I would change to the marinade (although my mother wants me to tone down the spice. Boooo.). Except maybe make more, more, moooooore…
Don't ask me to smile... 