Fun With Carbs

My friends Kat and Ben have a new baby, and I’m an honorary auntie. This is Flynn, and he’s now 11 weeks old.

I’ll wait until you’re done “awwww”-ing.

Like most new parents, they’re spending lots of time at home for awhile, getting the little guy situated and trained and comfortable. Last week, I offered to bring over dinner and beer when I visited.

We agreed on tacos, and I volunteered to bring the meat and tortillas. As I loaded cut-up chicken breasts into my slow cooker with some garlic, onion, lime and spices, I almost bored myself to death. The chicken needed something bolder, more appealing.

In my fridge: leftover chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, from long-ago black bean burgers. In our small “beer fridge,” a bottle of Young’s chocolate stout, left over from Christmas. Sometimes inspiration just strikes. Maybe I was just anticipating chocolate lab puppy kisses later.

As much as we all liked the first attempt, I knew it needed more. I wanted the flavor to be fuller, richer and maybe a tad sweeter. So I made the chicken again for our Super Bowl dinner, adding several tweaks and finally coming up with a recipe I’d repeat.

The chicken, once shredded or pulled, works well in tacos but seems to play a better starring role in a sandwich. Try it on a soft roll with some flavorful barbecue sauce.

Chipotle Chocolate-Stout Chicken

• 1 pkg boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 12-ounce bottle of chocolate stout (I used Young’s)
• 1 can of chipotle sauce (7 oz) or 2 tbsp chopped chipotle peppers with 3 tbsp adobo sauce**
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 tbsp minced garlic (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp black pepper

** The first time I made this recipe, I used a portion of Embasa-brand chipotle peppers with adobo sauce. When I made it this weekend, I used a much-less-spicy can of chipotle sauce, with no solid peppers. Depending on your desire for heat, you can add pepper/adobo to taste. I can’t eat anything that’s painfully spicy.

Place garlic, onions and chipotle sauce/peppers in crock pot. Cut chicken thighs into thirds, add to pot. Pour in stout so it covers chicken. Add the remaining ingredients, stir. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.

When ready to serve, remove chicken from mixture and pull/shred it in a large container. To keep it moist, add a few tablespoons of the beer/spice liquid.

It doesn't look like much while it's cooking...

But the final outcome is perfect on tacos or in a sandwich.