Spicy Hot

I have a little bit of a problem. I'm a serial recipe clipper, copier, and searcher. It all started with Gourmet Magazine. I got one issue and I was hooked. I wanted to make everything. I flagged half of the recipes. I have since branched out, devouring magazines, cookbooks, and blogs, but Gourmet still holds a special place. I remember the first recipe I tried from the magazine, and how thrilling it was to have in my kitchen a real version of what I saw on the page.

What am I looking for when I scour the recipe books? The one. It is because of recipe's like Gourmet's Caramelized Chipotle Chicken that I believe that these recipes are out there. Dishes that I will make again and again and again.

Out of my towering stack of recipe clippings, there are perhaps a handful of these recipes, waiting to be found.

This one, spicy, tangy, savory, a little sweet, very garlicky, sticky and addictive is not to be overlooked.

Caramelized Chipotle Chicken*

From Gourmet

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil**

8+ large garlic cloves, thinly sliced (about 1/2 a cup)

1 Large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped canned chipotle chiles in adobo (about 1/2 of a 7-ounce can)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 whole chickens* (about 3 1/2 lb each), each cut into 8 pieces

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the garlic, stirring, until it is golden, then transfer it with a slotted spoon (or a fork) to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium, and cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 15 minutes.

Add the garlic back into the skillet with the onions, along with the remaining ingredients, except the chicken. Add 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 25 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 450.

Coat the chicken with half of the sauce, then roast, skin side up for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the rest of the sauce, then continue roasting the chicken until it is fully cooked, and well browned in spots, an additional 20-25 minutes.

I recommend serving this with rice, brown or white, along with a handful of napkins.

*This sauce can also bypass the chicken and be eaten straight out of the skillet. I often make a full batch of the sauce and use half of it on one whole chicken, and then use the rest on tofu (which is delicious).

**I cut it down to 2 tablespoons.