Though I love hot and spicy food, I was never much of a fan of chipotle peppers until I tasted this sauce that my friend Joe whipped up one evening while Tiger and I were over at his place for dinner. It’s a gorgeous dark red sauce, and I don’t think my photo does it justice (in either of its incarnations).

Joe never actually uses a recipe when he makes this, so I took some time tonight to measure things out while I made my own version.

4 oz garlic, minced (2-3 heads)
1/2 cup olive oil
one 7oz can chipotle peppers (usually packaged in in adobo sauce)
pinch of salt

Mince the garlic and simmer it with the oil and a pinch of salt, stirring often, until the garlic starts to take on a golden hue (5-10 minutes). Roughly dice the chipotle peppers, and add them and their sauce into the garlic and oil mixture. Turn off the heat and blend until the sauce has a consistent texture and a nice deep red color. I usually use an immersion blender for this, but a standard blender or food processor would work just as well.

Don’t worry if the sauce separates a little, as it is easy to re-integrate by stirring.

Serve as-is, or mix at least 1:1 with sour cream for a smooth and refreshing sauce that still has a lot of kick. We usually use this as topping for enchiladas or other Mexican food, but the version without sour cream also makes a really good addition as seasoning in soups and other sauces.

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