A puree is a cooking term used for a specific consistency of blended foods. When you have fresh chipotle peppers, which are jalapeno chiles that have been dried over smoke, you can finely blend the peppers to use for salsa and other Mexican cuisine recipes. You can blend fresh chipotle peppers by themselves, but for a more tasteful puree you should add other cooked ingredients to the peppers. Make sure that your peppers are dried and ripe before using them in your puree.
Instructions
1. Wash all of your chipotle chiles under cool running water. Cut off the stems from the chiles using a sharp knife and then let the chiles dry on a paper towel for 10 minutes or longer.
2. Add 6 cups of cool water, 1 cup of tomato paste, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, ¼ cup of red wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, 2 tbsp. of achiote paste, 2 tsp. of salt and 4 oz. of the dried chipotle chiles to a large pot and stir well. Cook the ingredients together on your stove over high heat.
3. Let the mixture come to a boil and then simmer for at least 30 minutes. Continue stirring every five minutes to avoid any sticking. Also, make sure to not let the mixture boil at all to avoid over-cooking.
4. Remove the pot from heat and wait at least 10 minutes for the mixture to cool. Pour the mixture into a blender and press the "Puree" button on your blender. If you don't have a "Puree" button using low-blending speed until the mixture is completely smooth.
5. Pour your mixture into an airtight container and store it in your refrigerator. For the best results, keep your chipotle puree stored no longer than three day. You can heat up the mixture or use it in other recipes.
Tags: chipotle chiles, chipotle peppers, fresh chipotle, fresh chipotle peppers, heat mixture
