Recipe: Abuela's chipotle

The last time Carla and I were in Mexico city, we found dried and smoked jalapenos at the Central de Abastos (the world's largest wholesale and retail food market).  As it's a stone's throw away from Carla's grandmother's house, who better to ask the best way to use them? "Has chipotles" she said, and gave us the rundown.  Of course, Abuelita Luz is an amazing cook and knows by instinct what a recipe needs when it needs it, and the resulting instructions while clear, still amounted to "a little this, let it sit, a little that, cook it up".  It takes about a week to make, so we had to wait till we were back in Canada - probably for the best since bringing dried chilis across the border is probably easier than a jar of homemade chipotle.  It took a little time to get the courage up to do the task, but we finally did, and the result is stellar.  As I followed Abuelita's instructions, I took note of what I did so if it worked out well, it could be replicated.  It did, so here it is.




You will need:

150g / 1/3lb    dried and smoked jalapenos
325ml / 11oz  cider vinegar
1                     carrot
2                     onion
13                   cloves garlic
2                     8oz / 227g piloncillos (Mexican cane sugar shaped like a cone)
1                     28oz / 796ml can good whole tomatoes in juice
2                     bay leaves
1tsp / 5ml       thyme
1tsp / 5ml       marjoram
1tsp / 5ml       oregano





Method

 - make a 50/50 mixture of cider vinegar and water - about 650ml / 22 fluid oz
 - cover the jalapenos with the brine and seal in a jar
 - wait 1 week
 - strain the jalapenos out of the brine and keep both aside
 - julienne the onions, slice the carrot and 6 of the garlic cloves
 - saute the onions in a sauce pot till they have a bit of colour
 - add the carrot and garlic and sweat lightly
 - add the jalapenos
 - add in the brine and both piloncillos
 - blend the can of tomatoes - strain it if it has a lot of seeds, otherwise add it in
 - add bay leaf, thyme, marjoram, oregano and the rest of the garlic cloves whole
 - bring up to a low simmer, stirring occasionally 
 - cook until the sauce has a nice consistency and the chilis are nice and plump
 - cool completely and store in the fridge - I got almost exactly 2 mason jars (after sampling)