Salpicon
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:
2 pounds beef brisket (second cut is best)
3 T olive oil
1 onion
1 head of garlic
1/4 C chipotle peppers (rehydrated in hot water)
3-4 T cider vinegar (or white vinegar in a pinch)
3 cloves garlic
1/2 C olive oil
pinch of sugar
kosher salt and pepper
vegetables to accompany: romaine lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, 1 red onions (plus 1/4 C white vinegar, 1 T salt, and pinch sugar for pickling)
flour or corn tortillas
Instructions:
Salpicón is Mexican shredded beef that can be piled on salad or stuffed in a tortilla. This recipe is from The Southwest, one of Williams-Sonoma’s New American Cooking series. It’s easy but does require a bit of planning as you need to cook the meat for 2 hours, let it cool (at least another hour), and then add the dressing. I like to make it a day in advance so that the flavors intensify. I always at least double the recipe, making 4+ pounds of brisket. In this case, the double recipe served 5 hearty meat eaters (plus baby) with only a tortilla or two worth of leftovers.
Serves 3-4 (with ample leftovers)
In a heavy pot over medium-high heat, warm oil. Pat the brisket dry and brown well on all sides, around 5 minutes. Make sure that all brisket surfaces get dark brown.
Peel the onion, cut it in quarters through the stem end, and add to the pot. Take an entire head of garlic and slice through it horizontally, and add it, skin and all, to the pot. Cover the meat with water, and bring the whole thing to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours.
Take the pot off the heat and let the meat cool in the water (now a sort of stock).
Remove the cooled meat to a large plate. Using two forks or your fingers, thinly shred the meat.
In a small food processor, puree the chipotle with a bit of the soaking liquid, vinegar, and garlic. Drizzle in the olive oil and keep pulsing until emulsified. Add sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.
Add half the dressing to the shredded meat and mix. Add more to taste, depending on how much heat you want.
Finely shred romaine lettuce. Chop tomatoes. Cube avocado. Thinly slice the red onion (I use a mandoline). Mix together 1/4 C white vinegar, 1/2 C water, 1 T salt, and a pinch of sugar. Let sit for about 30 minutes until the liquid turns bright pink. Put each of the vegetables in a bowl and serve with the tortillas.
Place tortillas in a pan, cover, and heat in a low oven until soft and pliable.
Fill a tortilla with meat, vegetables, and refried beans (see below) and roll it all up.
Adapted from koshercamembert.wordpress.com