Smoky Chipotle Chicken
September 22, 2007
While I was on my Foodie Road Trip my friend Christine in Albuquerque was very generous and shared her Apple wood Smoked Chipotle Chile powder with me. The only ingredients are smoked chipotle chiles that have been dried and ground into a powder. Chile powder to live for. Just smelling it makes your mouth water.
I marinated a chicken breast and wing overnight in some fat free yogurt with a heaping teaspoon of the chile powder. Chicken in dark pink slimy stuff isn't very appealing so I didn't get a photo of that.
I also had a few trumpet mushrooms left over from last weekend. According to the package the mushrooms came in, they keep for 4 or 5 days in a brown paper bag. I put the left over mushrooms in a lunch size brown paper bag and gently placed them in the fridge. Today I got them out and sliced them in half lengthwise and drizzled them with some olive oil and some freshly diced garlic and let them marinate.
While the mushrooms were marinating and the chicken was coming to room temperature I had "cocktail hour." I sliced up a spirella. It's a fresh mozzarella roll with prosciutto and basil. I get this at Trader Joe's
I added some salami, olives both kalamata and almond stuffed green and a few Wasa crackers. I ate this with a glass of Sangoivese that I bought at Ft Bowie Vineyards in Ft. Bowie AZ. Deeelicious...
Chipotle chicken is ready to bake.
Once the chicken was done I broiled the marinated mushrooms while the chicken was resting. See the crispy bits of garlic. mmmmm
I made a simple salad of romaine with cucumber and drizzled it with a nice balsamic vinegar and some pecan oil. Fresh green beans were zapped for a few minutes in the microwave and dressed with a little butter, that's all, and dinner was ready.
The smoky chipotle flavor was strong enough to give the chicken interest but not overpowering. I don't think I'd add any more than I did in the marinade.
I had this with a white wine, Summer Peach, from Ft Bowie Vineyard. It was the perfect wine for this dish. The peachy wine was a good counterbalance for the smoky spiciness of the chicken and the garlicky mushrooms.
The first of many dishes I'll have fun using the smoky chipotle chile in.