Thanks to the book Truly Mexican, I've recently gotten into making cooked Mexican sauces like Adobos, Moles and Pipians. However, my sweetie is unable to tolerate anything above a mild zing in hot pepper flavor.
I've found it very difficult to calibrate the recipes to make them have a little bit of hotness, but not so much that she can't eat them. The other night I made a green pipian, and removed the seeds from the jalopenos to make them less hot ... but succeeded in removing all hot pepper flavor from the recipe entirely. Then I made an adobo which seemed OK until it sat for an hour, but then became too spicy for her to eat.
Tasting the peppers or the paste while it's still raw isn't very effective because peppers often get milder or hotter during cooking.
Does anyone have tips, ratios, or tricks they use to make cooked Mexican sauces which have zing but are not too spicy?