FLOWER POT KITCHEN: CHIPOTLE SAUCE

22 Aug 2018

CHIPOTLE SAUCE

A new Winning Dinner Done...brilliantly versatile chunky sauce that you can enjoy freshly made and also preserved from the glut in the garden for the rest of the year without any compromise to the flavour or your free time, super flavoursome dinner done in an instant! I am rather chuffed at this recipe, so simple and bursting full of flavour this chunky sauce is going to be great over pan seared chipotle chicken, grilled fish, stuffed in to a burrito or topped over scrambled eggs, a winner winner dinner sauce...

Prep time 15 minutes / Cooking time 30 minutes / Canning time 20 minutes

Ingredients

(makes 5 x 240ml jars)

1/2 aubergine sliced

14 large fresh tomatoes halved

3 bulbs garlic

1 tbsp coconut oil

4 onions sliced

4 dried chipotle peppers

1 dried Arbol pepper

1 guiallio pepper

4 limes juiced (1 zested)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp white pepper

1 tbsp chipotle powder

1 cup chopped fresh coriander

If you are planning on canning any left over sauce, which I whole heartedly recommend if it even lasts that long, you will need to have your clean jars ready to hand, a pan of boiling water ready and a pre heated oven at 380 F / 180 C.

Take the dried chipotle peppers and pour over enough boiled water to just cover the chillies to rehydrate, leave to one side until needed.

Pre heat your oven 380 F /180 C, place your skillet on a medium high heat, add the coconut oil and place the aubergine slices in the skillet to char up a little on both sides, meanwhile while the aubergines are charring cut the tomatoes in half and place in a roasting tin along with the garlic, drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 25 minutes to cook.

Remove the aubergines and place in a food processor and leave to one side, next in the skillet throw in the onions and char up a little too, not to much, remove and place in the blender with the aubergine and leave to one side.

Take the tomatoes and garlic from the oven and add to the food processor now add the rehydrated chipotle peppers, sea salt, chipotle powder, coriander and lime juice. Using the pulse button only, unless you want a purée, hit the button 4 times, just to whiz up the mix. I like to leave my tomato skins in the mix as they have extra goodness. Taste your gorgeous sauce and adjust the seasoning if required to our presonal taste with a hint more salt or pepper, lime or chipotle etc...

Take what sauce your are using now and reserve to one side, if you are canning the remainder of the sauce, (if not this sauce willl last for a week or so in an air tight ball mason jar in the fridge). Place the remainder of the sauce in a saucepan and bring up to a simmer, meanwhile place the jars and lids in the pre heated oven for 5 minutes to sterlize, you will also have your pan of water boiling on the stove at this point too.

Take the jars from the oven, fill with the hot enchilada sauce, pop the lids on and then drop into the pan of boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, remove and leave on the side to cool, this is one of my most favourite sounds the ping ping ping of lids sealing, a very happy sound in my home, organic grown food from the garden for the future.

Enjoy this brilliant chunky chipotle sauce as a dip and topping for lots of your meals.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.