Jesse Guadiana wrote: > > Hey CHs, > > For best results["IMHO"], smoke those red ripe jalapeņos in real-live, > honest to El Grande, mesquite charcoal... made in the old country, er, > Mexico... Mmmm... gooood stuff... COME ON SPRING TIME... Ripe red jalapenos sliced, diced or otherwise chopped and used in place of red bell pepper; dried, smoked, roasted, pickled, pureed, popped (as in jalapeno poppers)...indeed, good stuff! That's why I leave 'em on the plant until ripe. I can buy green jalapenos most any time of the year for 99 cents a pound but rarely, if ever, do I find ripe jalapenos available commercially at any price...and, smoked green jalapenos just don't cut it as chipotles. A recipe from my pages... Salsa de Chipotle 2.0 - dried chipotle chiles 6.0 - fresh tomatillos 1.0 - clove garlic 0.25 - medium onion, minced 0.25 cup - cilantro, coarsely chopped as needed - red wine vinegar Toast chiles on a hot comal until crisp but not burned and set aside. Place tomatillos and garlic on the comal and toast, turning often, until the husks are brown and the flesh is soft. Crumble the chiles into a molcajete and grind to a coarse powder. Peel and add the garlic clove and grind into a paste. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and discard. Cut the tomatillos into quarters. Add a few pieces of tomatillo to the molcajete and blend well before adding more. Continue until all the tomatillos have been blended into the chile/garlic paste. Blend in half the cilantro and add red wine vinegar as needed until the mixture achieves a thick table sauce consistency. Sprinkle other half of cilantro over the sauce just before serving. Serve as a dip for tostaditas or a table sauce for tostadas, tacos, burritos, frijoles... -- Rich McCormack (Poway, CA) macknet@cts.com Who is Rich McCormack? Find out at... http://members.cts.com/crash/m/macknet/