# Cooking with chipotles



## Hanzo (Apr 9, 2011)

I wanna try my hands on some Chicken Enchiladas recipe from foodnetwork. It calles for 4 canned chipotles, but the only thing I can get a hold of here is dried. How would I go about replacing the canned for the dried? Do I just soak 4 dried in some water for a while, and use them as that?


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## stereo.pete (Apr 9, 2011)

Latin cuisine typically calls for some sort of chile pepper in almost every recipe and the best result is using the dried peppers you find in good groceries. Just rehydrate the peppers in water and you'll be good to go.


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## Andrew H (Apr 9, 2011)

If they are just calling for normal chipotles (as opposed to smoked), re-hydrating them in warm water should do the trick.


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## 9mmbhp (Apr 9, 2011)

Canned chipotles are usually packed in adobo sauce: onion, garlic, tomato, vinegar, bay, oregano.

You can substitute plain, rehydrated dried chipotles or make your own adobo sauce: http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/sauce/enadobo.htm.

edit: If you have chipotles mecos (the longer, dusty brown chilles) you may want to use fewer of them than if you have chipotle moras (or 'moritas' which are the shorter, reddish chilles).


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## FryBoy (Apr 9, 2011)

I've been cooking authentic Mexican food for decades. My wife and I like it pretty hot (although we're both less tolerant of the heat than in our younger days), but I've always found it necessary to be very careful with canned chipotles. I've ruined more than a couple of dishes with them, creating something way too hot to enjoy, overwhelmed by the chipotles. So, if a recipe calls for four canned chipotles and a couple of tablespoons of the adobo sauce in which they're packed, I start with one chile and a teaspoon of the sauce. Taste and add more if needed. 

Mexican food is about the flavors, not a contest to see who can suffer the most without dying.


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## FryBoy (Apr 9, 2011)

I'll post a recipe for chicken enchiladas that I like.


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## bikehunter (Apr 9, 2011)

FryBoy said:


> Mexican food is about the flavors, not a contest to see who can suffer the most without dying.



I still like my food pretty spicy, but your post reminds me of an old friend....we used to call his rendition of chili con carne, ....Capital Punishment Chili. I love this quote...can I use it? ;-)


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## FryBoy (Apr 9, 2011)

Sure, although there's a small residual involved.
We accept PayPal.


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## bikehunter (Apr 9, 2011)

FryBoy said:


> Sure, although there's a small residual involved.
> We accept PayPal.


 
Umm...does Paypal accept chipotles? ;-)


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## MikeZ (Apr 9, 2011)

With chilis you should always taste before using because each one can be different power. I use green thai mainly because of the flavor and heat, but chipotles are pretty common, check your market again look for the can in adobo it may be in the mexican or international isle. all chipotle peppers are smoked thats the defintion its a smoked jalepeno right


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## Craig (Apr 12, 2011)

Andrew H said:


> If they are just calling for normal chipotles (as opposed to smoked), re-hydrating them in warm water should do the trick.


 
This discussion confuses me a little. Isn't a chipotle by definition a smoke-dried jalapeño?


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## mhlee (Apr 12, 2011)

Craig said:


> This discussion confuses me a little. Isn't a chipotle by definition a smoke-dried jalapeño?



Yes. That's definitely my understanding. Chipotles are smoked, dried jalapenos.


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