Grilled Peach and Chipotle Salsa
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:
6 firm, ripe peaches
2 shallots, peeled
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed
2 tsp. oil
1 large garlic clove, minced * 1-2 chipotle peppers, soaked in 1 cup hot water till softened
2 Tb. chopped cilantro
1 lime
1 Tb. honey (if needed)
Salt and Pepper
Instructions:
Preheat the grill to medium.
Cut each peach into 4 thick slices. Cut the shallots in half and the pepper in quarters. Lay the peaches, shallots and peppers on a baking sheets and toss with a little oil.
Carefully place the peaches, shallots and peppers on the grill. Grill the peaches 1-2 minutes per side until nice grill marks have formed, but the peaches are still firm. Grill the shallots and pepper 2-4 minutes per side. Remove and cool.
Chop the peaches, shallots and peppers into small ¼ inch chunks and place them in a bowl.
Mince the chipotle peppers, then add them to the bowl along with the minced garlic, cilantro, the juice of 1 lime and honey.
Mix well and salt and pepper to taste.
Variations:
For a “saucier” salsa, puree half the peaches with the lime juice then, mix with the rest.
Number of servings (yield): approximately 4 cups
Adapted from a recipe on aspicyperspective.com