There is a photo of one of the first times Torey Smith entered a restaurant kitchen. At the time, he wasn’t thinking, “I’d like to run one of these someday.”He wasn’t cooking the food or serving customers.Pay no attention to the many shelves of faux salsas (Blueberry-pineapple? Really?) and shove aside all those cans of low-fat, low-sodium, no-flavor refried beans.
If you dig a bit deeper into your grocer’s Hispanic section, you’ll find Mexico’s gift to high-flavor cooking – chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.
Typically sold in 7-ounce cans, these not-entirely-attractive (truth is, they look a bit prune-like) peppers pack gobs of smoky, chocolaty, slightly sweet piquancy.
First, the basics. Chipotles are really just jalapeño peppers that have been dried and smoked. In the U.S., they most often are sold canned in adobo sauce, a smooth tomato-vinegar blend spiked with garlic, onion and various spices.
One can is likely to last you a while. Though leftovers can be refrigerated for a couple weeks, your best bet is to divide the peppers and sauce into an ice cube tray, then freeze for easy use whenever.
Not surprisingly, chipotles in adobo sauce are wonderful in Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. Chop them and mix them into shredded cheese for topping nachos. Dice or purée a few to crank up the heat of your favorite chili. Marinate beef strips in the sauce for tacos. Dice them and add to salsa (no cranberries, please).
