One Hot Little Number

I love spicy foods and flavors. When I was looking for a great chicken wing recipe, I came across one with an interesting twist...it was called Chicken for the Bold by Padma Lakshmi. The kicker is a chipotle chili paste that is spicy, sweet and smokey - it is to die for! I made the paste ahead of time and it was so good that I never really got around to making the rest of the recipe. I ended up using it in so many different dishes - in essence, I've made "chicken for the bold," "fish for the bold," "dip for the bold," "sauce for the bold," etc. I now make a double batch of Padma's paste and keep it in the fridge for a couple of months. I fill small glass jars (such as a jam/jelly jar), tie a lovely ribbon around the lids and give it to my friends as gifts. My husband gets nervous when the jar gets low and starts reminding me of our little chipotle emergency until I make another batch. If you like a lot of heat for your palette, the possibilities are endless:

• Mix in a little paste with ranch or cesar salad dressing to kick it up a notch - or with ranch dressing or mayonnaise as a sandwich spread or veggie dip
• Mix with cream cheese and a little bit of sour cream and serve with pita chips for a firecracker chip/dip dish
• Toss it in a stir fry with veggies and meat of your choice
• Stir a couple of tablespoons into your favorite homemade tomato sauce (or use it to spice up a store-bought pasta sauce), or mix some paste into your favorite chili recipe. When you mix the paste in chili or pasta sauce, it will give it an amazing spicy-sweet flavor, and the smoked chilis give the sauce such a depth of flavor, you can smell it and taste it at the same time

Get creative and heat up the rest of your summer! Cheers! photo courtesy of Virtual Weber Bullet