Chipotles en Adobo

This is definitely not for the young man. It’s all for me to hoard in cupboards and use at every opportunity. It’s wonderful for perking up Salsas, pasta sauces, dips – anything that would appreciate some smoky heat.

200g dried chipotles (approx. 60-70)

1 large white onion, roughly chopped

1 whole bulb of garlic, peeled and cloves roughly chopped

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp thyme leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed

4 tbsp olive oil

350ml white wine vinegar

50ml decent balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp tomato puree

7 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp sea salt

This recipe is from Thomasina Miers. She can always be trusted to deliver the goods and I plan to sample more of the menu in her Wahaca restaurants this year.

This is an epic cooking session so only Verdi will do. Il Trovatore would be perfect – ideally the Pavaroritti & Sutherland version, though I only have the highlights disc. It has to be the whole thing and so the Callas version it must be for me.

Chipotles are smoked Jalapenos. They come dried and this is a different way of preserving them in a kind of sauce. So far I find the best value mail order service is Chilli Pepper Pete (chillipepperpete.com) though my best mate is in Mexico this week and I have charged him with bringing me back a load. It will take ages to peel a whole head of garlic but this is an investment –and you do have the lovely opera to listen to. I often have the cookbook and the libretto open side by side in the kitchen.

So to cook. Il Trovatore, Act 1, scene 1. Begin. Wash the chipotles in cold water and then drain. Snip the stalk end off with scissors. Put them in a medium pan and cover with cold water. Bring up to the boil and simmer for 30 mins, or until the chillies are soft.

Put the raw onion, garlic, herbs and cumin into a blender. Fish out 6 of the chillies and add them along with 200ml water. Blitz until you have a smooth paste.

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, and when hot, fry the paste for about 3 minutes. Stir constantly so it doesn’t stick and burn. Add the vinegars, tomato puree, sugar, salt and another 100 ml water. Cook for another 5 mins and ad the rest of the chillies (drained).  Cook for a further 15 mins until nicely thickened. I usually snip randomly at the chillies with a pair of kitchen scissors so that you get some small as well as large pieces.

Pour into sterilised jars. This makes about a litre. It keeps for months in a dark cupboard so you can enjoy it in no end of dishes. Taste a tiny spoonful before you jar it up and imagine it calmed down a little after a month in a jar. Think of all the things it would be great with.

A final word of warning. You have been handling a lot of chillies. Wash your hands with plenty of soap, lots of times before there is any chance of touching the genitals. Yours, or more especially his! You don’t want to give him more reasons for you not to spend your Saturday making this.