Blackberry chipotle sauce: A little taste of summer
Published 12:48 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Since it will be months before the first of our wonderful local berry crops is ripe and ready, blackberries might seem like a rather peculiar choice for today’s Forum.
But blackberries it is, for what I think are two good reasons. First, a lot of us still have some berries stacked and just waiting in our freezers, and they’re also readily available in store frozen-food sections.
The second reason is because I sure hope there are a lot of you, not just my own self, who’ll find what’s coming irresistibly enticing. Besides, the recipes just turned up, quite unexpectedly, and who are we to turn down a great chance to try something new and different? Not Forum cooks as far as I know, not never.
No telling if this first how-to will closely duplicate or even come within shouting distance of the pricey bottled marinade/sauce stuff on some store shelves. Frankly, it sounds too chunky.
But, if it’s not quite the thing, at the very least it should be good eating and also make a great starting place for some fiddling around with — puree or thin it, or add, adjust or outright omit this or that — to bring it to your idea of perfection.
(Don’t breeze it around, but since I know for absolute sure oldest son Morgan loves this type of thing for the this or that he plans to barbecue, I’m going to make some just for him. Well, if my husband and I don’t eat the first batch …)
Which is not that far-fetched. Because Susan Mallery, the author of the soon-to-be-published novel “Barefoot Season,” spent enough time here in Washington to create not just this blackberry chipotle recipe, but some others as well, including the following pork chop recipe.
Here we go, then, with just one word of caution: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are wonderful things, no doubt about it, but they are HOT. If this is your first foray into this particular pepper, you might want to start small, really small.
Blackberry chipotle sauce
2cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
1/4cup sugar
2tablespoons olive oil
1small onion, minced
2cloves garlic, minced
2tablespoons (1/4 cup canned chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped (see note)
1teaspoon cumin
1tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2teaspoon kosher salt
In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, heat the blackberries and sugar, stirring constantly. When they’re warm, mash with a potato masher. Lower heat and continue cooking for a few minutes. Pour the mixture into a wire strainer over a bowl or measuring cup. Discard solids, reserving the liquid.
In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until onions are translucent. Add the blackberry juice, chipotles, cumin, vinegar and salt. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Note: The more chipotles in adobo sauce you use, the hotter the sauce will be.
Oven-baked pork chops with blackberry chipotle sauce
1/4cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
2pork chops, 1- to 1 1/4-inch thick
1/4cup blackberry chipotle sauce
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in heavy, oven-safe pan with a lid. Salt and pepper the chops, then brown for 5 minutes on one side. Flip the chops, cover the pan and transfer it to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Drop 2 tablespoons of the blackberry chipotle sauce on each chop. Cover again and bake until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 10 to 20 minutes more.
Makes 2 servings.
Maybe you have one or more favorite chipotle/adobo sauce recipes to share. If so, don’t hesitate to send them along to Judyrae Kruse at the Forum, c/o The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206. We are always happy to receive your contributions and requests, but please remember that all letters and e-mail must include a name, complete address with ZIP code and telephone number with area code. No exceptions and sorry, but no response to e-mail by return e-mail; send to kruse@heraldnet.com.
