Chipotle recipes

March 15, 2005 6:44 AM

I've fallen in love with Chipotle peppers (specifically those packed in adobo sauce)...i'm looking for a few good, simple, recipes using these smokey and slimy little delights... [+]

...so far my experimentation with them has resulted in adding adobo'd chipotles to homemade tartar sauce for fish, mayo for sandwiches, and as part of a rub (with cumin and garlic) for grilled porkchops...so, as you can, I need some enlightenment.

Also: anyone know how long chipotles in adobo sauce can be stored in the fridge?

posted by tpl1212 to Food & Drink (29 answers total)

Chop them up and mix them with mashed sweet potatos and a little sour cream. OMG.
posted by corpse at 6:45 AM on March 15, 2005

Chicken marinade:

Puree the can of peppers with olive oil, soy sauce, honey (1/2 cup each), a bit of sugar and pepper and lemon or lime juice. Freeze the chicken in the marinade (doesn't take much, if you use a freezer bag you only need a bit more than a coating) and when you cook the chicken serve a little sour cream for dipping.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 6:49 AM on March 15, 2005

I keep them in a tupperware container for upwards of a month or so. The acid in the sauce will keep them ok for quite a while as long as they are airtight.

Now as far as recipes, I usually dice one up and add it to any tomato based braising sauce I use, such as cacciatore or any tagine - really kicks things up. I also add two or three to any chili I make. REALLY makes things interesting. I would say use it in any thickened, stew-like dish that is gonna be simmered for a long time.
posted by spicynuts at 6:54 AM on March 15, 2005

I can taste a good thread coming. I add chopped chipotles to my tuna salad, and my wife gives me funny looks about it. I'm pretty sure it's how God makes tuna salad.
posted by Plutor at 7:04 AM on March 15, 2005

Add them to chicken soup.
posted by kenko at 7:29 AM on March 15, 2005

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes?
posted by plinth at 7:35 AM on March 15, 2005

I'm pretty sure it's how God makes tuna salad.
God also adds a few chopped giardiniera vegetables (make, buy).

Anyway, I'm with spicynuts on keeping them in the fridge in tupperware. I've taken to spooning up a bit of the liquid to use anywhere I would have used Tabasco before.

This is a great, cheap recipe. I always used bacon or a ham hock in my lentils until I realized that chipotles add a similar smoky flavor and are healthier and vegetarian-friendly.

Sautee a chopped onion and a stalk or two of chopped celery (not essential, but good) in a bit of olive oil. When veggies start to brown, pour in a can of undrained chopped tomatoes (or Ro-tel tomatoes and green chilies), two or three chopped chipotles and a good spoonful of their sauce, and a cup and a half of water. Add a bag of rinsed green lentils (or whatever lentils you like), bring to a low boil, and cook for 30-45 mins. After the first twenty minutes or so, check to see if you need to add a little more water-if you do, add it about half a cup at a time. Start tasting at 30 minutes, lentil cooking time can vary widely based on their age. When they're tender and silky but still separate and not mushy, consider them done.

This makes a lot of lentils. I always put half in the freezer.

These are good alone or over brown rice with a drizzle of sour cream or plain yogurt or balsamic vinegar. They also fill burritos quite nicely.
posted by cilantro at 7:37 AM on March 15, 2005

Here's a chili recipe that uses them:

Beer Geek Chili

And I've made this chili, it is REALLY REALLY good. It's smoky and spicy and chewy and unlike any chili that you've probably had. It's awesome stuff. I make a whole batch, and freeze most of it in vacuum freezer bags. Then pull a bag out whenever I'm in the mood for the chipotle chili. Mmmmmmm...
posted by ensign_ricky at 8:11 AM on March 15, 2005

and freeze most of it in vacuum freezer bags.

Hey, ensign, are these boil-in-bag freezer bags? Like you can just plop the whole bag in boiling water and it'll heat up whatever's inside? I've heard claims of this kind of thing with various vacuum sealer infomercials but have always been suspicious. You're idea however sounds awesome if you can just throw the whole shebang right in the water.
posted by spicynuts at 8:14 AM on March 15, 2005

I like to make Chipotle and Black Bean Dip; it's a mite too spicy for me, but my husband can eat buckets of it. It's an easy and flavorful snack.
posted by shirobara at 8:27 AM on March 15, 2005

Chipotle Shrimp (had this at a friend's and have made the recipe a few times myself since, recipe is very simple):

about 400g of big shrimp (a bit less than a pound)
3 tomatoes (some beefy ones, not small ones)
3-4 cloves of garlic
4 chipotles (less if you're a sissy, more if you're a fool)
1/3 cup of oil
1 tsp cummin
1 tsp oregano
some butter

1. Chop up tomatoes into cubes, mince garlic and mix with tomatoes, broil in oven at 400f for 10-15 minutes.

2. Blend broiled mixture with chipotles.

3. On stove add blended mixture with oil, cummin and oregano, bring to a boil and then simmer until thick (aprox 20 min).

4. Separately fry shrimp in butter and then mix with sauce.

Goes excellent on top of white rice. You could improvise by adding chopped celery or similar. Also, you can just do steps 1,2,3 and then spread it over slices of french bread (toasted or not) as an appetizer.

Enjoy!
posted by furtive at 8:28 AM on March 15, 2005

furtive - for the tomatoes and chipotles, do you mean blend with a blender (puree), or just mix well? I assume it's the former, but that looks so good that I want to make it tonight!
posted by fionab at 8:34 AM on March 15, 2005

Chipotle peppers make chilli absolutely unbelievable. If you like really, intensely, volcanically spicy food I recommend making your chipotle chilli with habaneros. Spicy food is awesome.
posted by baphomet at 8:37 AM on March 15, 2005

For longer-term storage, I wrap them in plastic wrap, ziplock baggie, freezer. The liquid I freeze in a little Tupperware thingy or just poured into a ziplock.
posted by desuetude at 8:45 AM on March 15, 2005

Substitute chipotles in salsa recipes that call for jalapenos, they're smoketastic.

My fav is seeding tomatoes, oven broiling them, then skinning them. Throw the tomatoes, chipotles, some salt and garlic into a blender and obliterate. You could also toss in lime juice and cilantro as well.
posted by turbodog at 9:54 AM on March 15, 2005

Also chipotle-tastic in salsas, particularly fruit salsas (especially with pineapple.) Particularly particularly fruit salsas intended to be used as a accompaniment to meat.
posted by desuetude at 10:30 AM on March 15, 2005

[Snarky Hijack Ahead] I'm heartened to see "chipotle" spelled correctly here. It seems to be one of those words (like "nuclear") that has developed a lingering, stubborn mispronounciation when spoken aloud -- sometimes even migrating into written form. I've worked with a lot of culinary types, even trained chefs, who consistently called the peppers "Chi POL tee" , although it should be "chi POHT lay" Emeril Lagasse is probably the culprit that spread this around the globe. He says "Chipoulty" every time.
posted by Miko at 11:08 AM on March 15, 2005

I take the whole can, puree it, and store it in a little tupperware in the fridge. It's like very thick barbeque sauce. I keep it for months that way. I add little scoops of it to everything, but my favorite is a big tablespoon added to black bean soup.
posted by peep at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2005

I second the puree recommendation but find glass jars better, as the mix tends to stain plastics. As for recipes, I too am in the "add them to everything" camp. To fionab's question, I generally find pureeing the peppers & tomatoes together a better blend of flavors than just mixing, for most recipes - with the exception of nachos, where I like a loosely chopped mix.
posted by judith at 11:38 AM on March 15, 2005

A recent (current or one back) issue of Cook's Illustrated uses chipotle in adobo for a Mexican soup recipe.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:46 AM on March 15, 2005

Chilean Country Ribs
posted by yerfatma at 12:37 PM on March 15, 2005

-- puree 1 small can chipotles, reserve a little for later.
-- take 1 pork loin, butterfly twice
-- marinate for a few hours (or overnight if you like to suffer)
-- grill or broil

-- add a spoon or two of the reserved chipotle puree while making salsa (a personal favorite: roasted corn, sun dried tomatoes reconstituted in boiling orange juice, onions, chipotle, cilantro)
posted by dorian at 12:39 PM on March 15, 2005

Another vote for pureeing the can and keeping it in a jar on the fridge door. Makes adding that flavor to everything from soups to eggs that much easier.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:09 PM on March 15, 2005

A little goes a long way to perk up a mug of hot chocolate. Ditto for spicing up the ganache for truffles. Stir a little puree into a bottle of chocolate topping, let it age a little, then serve with real vanilla icecream.

They make a wicked salsa for fish, chicken or pork when finely diced with fresh mango, a little red onion, plenty of cilantro, lime juice and sea salt.

Add one to the water when cooking rice.

Puree, stir through softened butter, form into a log, chill then slice - just the thing to top off a steak. Puree a little with some olive oil and brush it over chargrilled veges or wedges of roasted pumpkin.

Chiptole-laced apple sauce is an intriguing condiment for pork, and we made a chipotle and cranberry jam a few Christmases ago to go with ham.

Pop a dried chipotle in a bottle of vodka or tequila with a split vanilla bean and leave it for a few months.

Incidentally, it's a real bastard finding chipotles en adobo (or any American chiles, for that matter) in Australia, and when you do, it's not unusual to pay AUS$6-7 for a small can.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:46 PM on March 15, 2005

I'm not as big of a fan of the adobo sauce, so I rinse that off, and then toss the chipotles in the blender along with a bunch of roasted red peppers. Blend, store in fridge, add to everything. Mix with a bit of lime juice to make a good marinade.

(Not to hijack the thread, but sometimes when God makes tuna salad he puts a healthy dose of curry powder in it.)
posted by the_W at 2:50 PM on March 15, 2005

A delicious dip:

Roast 15 tomatillos, a few cloves of garlic until roasted (25-30 min at 350). Peel the leaves off the tomatillos. Combine with 3 or 4 large canned chipotles in adobo. Blend until smooth.

This tastes good.
posted by ikkyu2 at 3:53 PM on March 15, 2005

Chipotle chicken chili:

- Chop 2 red or green peppers, 1 large onion, 2 cloves of garlic.
- Stir fry the above in olive oil in the bottom of a large stewpot until onions are translucent.
- In a separate pan, cook 8 pc. chicken (I usually do legs & thighs) in a little olive oil until mostly done. Turn once, then remove from heat.
- Add 1 liter chicken broth and a few glugs of tequila to the onions and peppers, bring to a slow boil.
- De-seed 4-5 chipotles, cut 'em up, and throw them into the broth, along with some adobo sauce, if you like it HOT.
- Using a fork, shred the chicken pieces off the bone and throw them into the pot.
- Add 1 can pinto beans, 1 can sweet yellow corn, then cover and let simmer for 20-30 mins.
- Uncover, squeeze juice from 1/2 lime into the pot, add plenty of fresh cilantro, and serve with cornbread.

Sometimes you need an extra 12 oz can of chicken broth.
posted by nyterrant at 5:42 PM on March 15, 2005

Roasted garlic, white cheddar, and chipotle mashed potatoes. I've had people propose to me after serving this recipe.
posted by kamikazegopher at 8:02 PM on March 15, 2005

Little late to the chipotle-lovin't party (I'm addicted), but I gotta mention my newest favorite soup: Caldo Tlalpeño. Basically a chicken soup with garbanzos, chipotles, and chayote squash. A local restaurant makes it, and I was practically drinking straight from the bowl. I haven't tried this particular one, but here's a recipe to give you an idea.
posted by DakotaPaul at 4:18 PM on April 4, 2005