Chipotle Sloppy Joes
Morita chiles are red, fully mature Chipotles. This gives them a unique, medium – hot smokey flavor which is popular in many Southwestern dishes. These can be added to sauces (including Mole) to add smokey flavor and maintain the red color of the sauces. These peppers are about 2-4 inches in length, 1 inch in width, and have a deep brick reddish brown color. The word Chipotle translated to smoked chile. Consider the Chipotle a 6.5 on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the hottest). Scoville heat units 7,000-25,000.
Suggested Use:
Use Morita in enchilada sauces, chili, stews, barbecue ribs, and corn bread. Their smoky quality combines well with poultry, meats and fall squash.
Ingredients:
1 carrot, peeled, cleaned, and minced
1 medium yellow onion, minced
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of San Marzano tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup of ketchup
1 green bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, minced
½ red bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, minced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
½ tsp red chili flakes
¾ tbsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
1¼ lb of lean ground beef
2 chipotle peppers, finely chopped
1 tbsp canola oil
hard rolls, sliced
Chili Cheese Fritos, optional
Instructions:
Serves: 10
Begin by browning your meat in a large pot. Once you have thoroughly browned your meat, remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Remove the fat drippings as well.
Add the canola oil, bring back to medium heat, and toss in your carrots, onion, garlic, celery, bell peppers, and chili flakes, and cook on medium heat for about 7 minutes or until the vegetables have softened.
Add the ketchup, tomatoes, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, chipotle peppers, and brown sugar. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper and give it another stir.
Cover, and cook on medium to low heat for about 15 minutes. Toss the sauce into a food processor, or blender, and puree it into a nice smooth sauce. Add the sauce back to the pot, reduce heat to low, and add in the cooked ground beef. Give a nice stir, and cover.
Cook for about another 10 minutes. You are now good to go on making the sloppy joes.
To make your sandwich, take one of your hard rolls and stack on the sloppy joe mixture. Add a layer of fritos, and top with the other bun. I went this route on as I wanted a bit more texture and that crunch and additional spice from the chili fritos was just perfect. The chipotle sloppy joes were still a winner with my kid and they were just spiced enough that everyone could enjoy.