Killer Chili!
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sweet_potato_black_bean_chili.html
When I saw this recipe I thought.. OH MY WORD! THIS is so my kind of food! YUMMY Sweet potatoes, black beans, a little hot… oh yeah!! I pinned the recipe on my healthy food pin board, I posted it on my Facebook page… I was so excited!
Fast forward to D- Day… food is cooking… all excited… when it comes time to do the spices… I look it over- I see it calls for three tablespoons of red chili pepper and half a teaspoon of chipotle. I think.. hmmm My Guy doesn’t love things super hot and frankly- while I like a little heat- I don’t love a burning mouth either… Soooo… enter BAD DECISION!
Chipotle is just smokey hot red pepper right? So I can put in three teaspoons (heaping!) of Chipotle and NO red chili pepper right? And it will be even less hot than the recipe calls for right? Uhm.. no!
The recipe says- stir in spices over the potatoes and onions then add other ingredients… I added cumin, tumeric and the chipotle, adding the chipolte last… as I added it the whole space filled up with “FUMES” of hot pepper!!
Seriously… so much so that I was choking… My Guy came down the hallway and starting choking before he could even see the stove! Yeah- pepper fumes!!
We hoped against hope that it would be saved once we added the liquid and the beans… but WHOOO WEEEE… it was sooo hot! We were tearing up just tasting a tiny bit! Truly! LOL
My Guy- who is so supportive and never has a bad thing to say even if I burn dinner a little… finally at the end of the night- declared dinner inedible!! (hrmph!) Stone Fired Pizza from next door was ordered… and we found other people who could take the HEAT and passed the food on to friends. Two of whom LOVED it, one who left it in the fridge after trying it!
The moral of this story is… Chipotle and Red Chili Pepper are NOT interchangeable one to one.
So- for all of you who have ever had a bad cooking day… This one was for you! 
La-
LOL! I am not a spicy gal either…well that way anyhow. Live and another lesson learned
Chipotle is surprisingly spicy – I learned that lesson the hard way.
Now I generally stick with somewhere between 1/4 – 1/2 tsp for most recipes – it adds just enough smokiness without *too* much spice.
I can’t stop laughing! Glad you found some takers!