Must pay attention to the grilling process – either allow lots of time, or face the ‘unwanted flare-ups’. Otherwise excellent – made sauce out of the our garden cherry tomatoes – raving reviews..
The sauce may be made up to a couple of days in advance.
4 servings
- 2 tablespoons lard or neutral oil, like corn or canola, plus more for brushing chicken
- 1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 dried chipotle chilies, or to taste
- 2 cups cored and chopped tomatoes
- 8 chicken thighs, legs or drumsticks
- 2 garlic cloves, cut in half
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Chopped cilantro leaves, for garnish
- Lime wedges, for garnish.
Start a charcoal or wood fire or preheat a gas grill; fire should be moderately hot, part of grill should be cooler than the rest and rack should be 4 to 6 inches from heat source.
Sauce:
- Put lard or oil in a medium saucepan or skillet and turn heat to medium.
- When hot, add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add chilies, tomatoes and ½ cup water.
- Adjust heat so mixture simmers steadily but not violently.
- Cook about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until chilies are soft and tomatoes break up. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.
- When chipotle sauce is ready, cool for a few minutes, then remove stems from chipotles, put mixture in a blender and purée.
Chicken:
- Rub chicken with cut side of garlic cloves, brush on oil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place chicken skin side up on coolest area of grill.
- When fat has rendered a bit, turn chicken over.
- After 20 minutes or so, move chicken to hottest part of grill.
- When chicken is just about done, brush it with chipotle sauce on both sides, and cook just another minute or 2.
- Serve, garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.