Adobo Sauce with Dried Chipotles

I love adobo sauce, the stuff that canned chipotle peppers come in. Well, here I've got some dried chipotles and no adobo. Why not make my own? How can it go wrong? There will be chipotle peppers in it.

Here's the recipe I used, although I did half the portion because I wanted to save some dried peppers for... later maybe.

Makes about half a cup of sauce.

5 dried chipotle peppers, whole
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1/4 teaspoon of oregano
1/2 a small onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
2 tablespoons of ketchup
1.5 cups of water
2 tablespoons of malt vinegar (use cider vinegar, or red wine vinegar, if that's what you've got)
1 tablespoon olive oil


Heat a pan and put the oil, onions, and chipotles in to cook for about 4 minuntes, then add the garlic for one more minute. Add the vinegar to the water and mix, then pour it all into the pan. Add salt, cumin, oregano, and ketchup. Stir so things seem evenly spread. On very low heat, let reduce for 1-2 hours, or until there's about 1/2 a cup of liquid left and the peppers are soft. If you want it to be really smooth, take out the peppers, put the liquid in a food processor until blended, then put the peppers back in.

These are so good as a topping for burgers or hot sandwiches of any kind. They're not as hot as you think they'll be. I suggest chopping them up a bit and spreading them on a toasted roll, then adding black beans, avocado, queso fresco, and if you're into meat, some barbecue. Yummmmm.