Yum Yum for Spices: Chipotle

I bought some ground chipotle for something different, now what can I do with it. First of all chipotle is a smoked red jalapeño pepper 🌶 and  second it's known for Mexican and southwestern dishes. The majority of the peppers are grown in Chihuahua, Mexico.  Typically, a grower passes through a jalapeño field many times, picking the unripe, green jalapeños for market. At the end of the growing season, jalapeños naturally ripen and turn bright red. In Mexico and the United States, there is a market for ripe red jalapeños. They are kept on the bush as long as possible. When they are deep red and have lost much of their moisture, they are picked to be made into chipotles.

Penzeys Spices advertise their chipotle ground red as "The charms of Chipotle are many. There are multiple ways to bring smoke and heat to a dish but with most it can be all too easy to overpower and to overwhelm. With Chipotle the smoke is soft and the heat is contained. And there's nothing brash or bell peppery about the flavor of Chipotle, instead it's comfortably rich and surprisingly pleasing. And while it might be superficial to say, the color of our Chipotle may well be more attractive than anything else we sell. Add wherever a little something extra is needed. Delicious."

Speaking of delicious, here is a delish dish that uses ground chipotle.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 c. fresh (from 6 to 8 ears), frozen, or canned corn
• 1 c. half-and-half
• 1 can chopped green chiles
• ½ c. Chopped red onion
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. skirt steak
• 1 tsp. ground chipotle chili pepper
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large, preheated cast-iron skillet, sauté corn over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until lightly charred, about 5 minutes.
2. In a saucepan, heat corn, half-and-half, chiles, and onions. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Bring to a boil; cover and simmer for about 5 minutes or until mixture is thickened.
3. Meanwhile, prepare an outdoor grill or heat a grill pan over medium heat for 5 minutes or until very hot. Pat skirt steak dry and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Mix ground chili pepper with olive oil. Brush steak with chili mixture and grill, 4 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
4. Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Slice across the grain and serve with corn.