INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Stem and slit all the dried chiles, removing
half the seeds. (For a milder sauce, remove all the seeds.) Roast the
chiles in the oven just until you smell them, about 3 minutes maximum.
Submerge them in a pot of hot water and soak until softened, about 20
minutes. While the chiles are soaking, turn oven up to 500 degrees. Roast
the garlic on a baking sheet for 20 minutes, then peel.
Taste the chile water. If it's not bitter, use it instead of water. Combine
the chiles, garlic chile water, salt, vinegar, cocoa, sugar, cumin, orange
juice, cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne in blender and puree. Taste, and
add an additional 1/4 teaspoon cayenne if greater heat is desired. Pour
into sterilized bottle and seal. Refrigerated, the sauce will keep
approximately 8 weeks. Makes 3 cups.
Note: You may substitute canned chipotles in adobo, which will make
roasting and soaking unnecessary. Lift the chipotles from the sauce, but
don't rinse, as the adobo adds flavor.
The cocoa--borrowed from Mexican mole sauces--doesn't sweeten the sauce;
rather, it adds a mellowness that, combined with the orange juice, takes
the sometimes bitter edge off the dried chiles.
This sauce has great range: it is "big" enough to be used as a marinade for
grilled meats and is also a fine steak sauce that's not too sweet. Not
particularly searing, it is also a wonderful dipping accompaniment to
grilled chicken and fish. My favorite dish for this sauce, however, is
Fajitas , where the onions, peppers, steak, and warm tortillas come alive
with the smokey chipotles.
Hot Licks by Jennifer Trainer Thompson, Chronicle Books,1994; ISBN:
8-8118-0575-1
Recipe by: Jennifer Trainer Thompson_Hot Licks_1994
Posted to recipelu-digest by Badams <adamsfmle@sprintmail.com> on Feb 20,
1998

A Message from our Provider:

“If it doesn’t lead to Jesus, it doesn’t lead to God”