Recipe

Method

1. Remove any stem ends from chipotle chillies. Finely chop whole chillies - seeds and all - and add them, with a spoonful or two of adobo sauce, to mayonnaise. Combine with sourcream. Store, covered, in a non-reactive container in the refrigerator.

• Salads, Sides & Dressings
• Vegetarian

Tips

• When someone uses the word “miraculous” in food circles these days, they are probably about to tell you about a Mexican product called chipotle (pronounced: chip-oat-lay) chillies - dried, smoked jalapenos. They are excellent in dried form, often sold ground as a fiery powder, but the best way to buy them is as tinned, whole chillies or peppers, reconstituted in a tomato-based sauce called adobo. Buy a case of small tins of these just as soon as you have finished reading this, and your life will improve. And yes, grilled asparagus served with a dip of chipotle mayo? Life-altering!
• As you will seldom use a whole tin of chillies at a time - rather than sitting that half-empty tin in the back of your fridge until it grows whiskers – tip contents into a small, zip-lock freezer bag, remove air and freeze it. When next you need to make chipotle mayo, simply take it out of freezer, remove it from the bag and grate as much as you need on a coarse, micro plane grater. Return rest to freezer.
• Chipotle mayonnaise has an infinite number of delicious applications: as a dip for grilled vegetables, especially fresh asparagus; as a spread for grilled meat sandwiches or burgers; and hot mushroom sangers.
• If, for any reason, you find this mixture a bit fierce, simply reduce the heat by adding another more mayo and sour cream. Or if you want heat, more chillies and adobo sauce. You are in charge here.

Recipe provided by Bob Hart.