I used the smallest sauce pan I own, a 1-quart sauce pan, and I did cover the pan with foil as per the recipe. At the end of the roasting time, the edges of the garlic were a lovely, nutty brown and the plump middles were a rich creamy tan color. The smaller cloves of garlic were definitely more brown than the larger cloves. I tried to use uniformly larger cloves, but some of the cloves proved to be two smaller cloves when I peeled them. Fortunately, the size difference wasn't such that the smaller cloves suffered in the time needed to thoroughly roast the larger cloves. Having similarly sized garlic cloves is something to definitely keep in mind.
I used a small, mini-prep, 2-speed style food processor, which was plenty large enough for the recipe.
The recipe calls for 3 tablespoons of the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. From the can, I fished out two peppers with a tablespoon measuring spoon. I correctly guessed that the peppers would equal two tablespoons once I roughly chopped them. Then I scooped out one tablespoon of the adobo sauce.
What I WILL do differently next time: I should have taken a clue from the pictures of the ingredients in the cookbook. The peppers look like a puree in the photo. I should have just added the entire can to the food processor and pureed the contents together. Then, I could have easily measured out three tablespoons. (My cutting board would stay cleaner, too.) I did puree the remaining contents in the can in the food processor. I used a 1-cup plastic storage container to store the puree.
I roughly chopped the cilantro. I pressed the cilantro into the 1/4-cup measuring cup. I likened it to firmly packed brown sugar...except it was cilantro. And I kept pushing cilantro into the measuring cup until it would no longer stay flattened in the cup and would begin to overflow.
I zested the lime straight into the food processor bowl. Chef Pam learned that this is the proper methodology when adding zest to a recipe when she took a cooking class at a specialty kitchen supply store. Something about the oils? If you use a cutting board, you lose some of the oils?
I used the full salt. Iodonized salt.
Even though Chef Sanchez calls this recipe a sauce, I was very surprised that this recipe resulted in such a sauce...a very saucy, drippy, pour-able sauce. I thought that it would WAY thicker for some unknown reason. And I was also surprised that it made SO MUCH sauce. My yield was about 50% higher than the stated yield of the recipe. I don't know if my oil didn't evaporate (or whatever the appropriate cooking term would be) as expected in the oven, or what. I stored the recipe in a 2-cup glass jar and I would guesstimate that the jar was 75% full.
The recipe is yummy. Not quite the as flavorful as I expect it will be tomorrow. If this sauce is similar to other spicy food, it should increase in heat overnight. It could also take some time for the flavors to all develop together. I definitely think that letting this sauce have time to mature is a requirement before using this sauce.
It strikes me that this recipe is widely open to personal preference in terms of ingredient quantity and ratios. You may like it more or less spicy, more or less garlic-y, more or less tangy, more or less herb-y. Only you can determine what you really like and go with that.
I think the real test of how I think it tastes will be determined tomorrow. In the interest of developing an easy to reference body of knowledge, I will post any further thoughts regarding this recipe in the comments. Remember, comments regarding your personal experiences can only help others and really make this as complete a work as possible. Comments will remain open for posts like this for just that reason.
So I HAVE to report right away...I used this sauce to spice up my breakfast this morning. The sauce separated in the fridge and benefited from being in a jar with shaking room. I'm wondering if I erred in my oil measurement? The flavors are well balanced but the sauce seems slightly oily, which I know sounds ridiculous since the base is oil. It's like all the other flavors are in sync but could collectively be kicked up a notch to be in sync with the oil.
ReplyDeleteI'll share my fabulous breakfast idea on a different day in a post that will be designated for all to share how we use our sauce in ways not described in the book.
Keeping in mind your discussion about the garlic cloves and the chipotle in adobo sauce, I made my Garlic-Chipotle Love today. I altered your procedure, as follows: I used just the fat, outer cloves of two garlic bulbs so that my twelve clove pieces were all uniform and I pureed my can of chipotle in adobo sauce and used 3 Tbsp from that puree.
ReplyDeleteAs I mentioned in a previous comment, I have some specialty olive oil(s) that I need to use before they go rancid. The flavor profiles of my olive oils are either (a) green & grassy, (b) olive-y & peppery, (c) fragrant & fruity, or (d) mild & delicate. The regions of these oils are Spain, Italy, and Central California. I had the BEST olive oil supplier, online, that unfortunately is no longer in business. I really miss them! Anyway, for this recipe I chose to use the green & grassy profile from California.
I used sea salt, and reduced to 1/2 tsp. I don't know why, exactly, but the salt just seemed like too much and, because I'm not a heavy salt seasoner, I thought I'd just add more salt to any recipe that I would use this Love in, if I felt the need.
Also, I ended up with about 1-1/2 cups of finished Garlic-Chipotle Love sauce. I, too, felt it was a bit oily, but expected that because, after all, we are using quite a bit of garlic-infused oil. I have it resting in the refrigerator and will report back if the sauce separates, as well, in the container. I did taste a bit of the sauce; what lingers on my tongue is a hint of spice (heat) and the texture of an oil.