XPA Chipotle Sauce

If you like beer, smoke and chilli..and who doesn’t, then this one is for you. This is a great sauce for all those foods that go down well with a beer – hamburgers, kranskies, steak, and many more. It’s particularly great for those ‘post beer session’ bacon and eggs and vegetarians who want to add a little kick to a dish. The hoppy fruitiness of the XPA compliments the acidity of the tomatoes and heat of the chillies.

7-10 Chipotle Chillies, depending on what heat you want (Cans of chipotle in adobo sauce are available from American food stores. Add in the adobo sauce as well. For best results grow and smoke your own Jalapenos, see note below)

400g can diced tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 medium red capsicum, finely chopped

½  cup of brown sugar*

½ tablespoon of sea salt*

1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar*

½ to 2 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper*, depending on what heat you want

2 teaspoons of orange juice*

1 tablespoon of Vegeta (vegetable stock)

1 teaspoon of black pepper

½ tablespoon of sea salt

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

300ml of Wolf of the Willows XPA or other lower bitterness, heavily hopped beer (drink the rest yourself). Note bitter IPAs are not appropriate as the bitterness is accentuated by cooking

Water, as required, to dilute the sauce when cooking depending on what consistency you want (only use if necessary).

Place the onion, garlic, oil and chipotle in a saucepan on a medium heat and cook until soft for between 3-5 minutes. Add this and all other ingredients in a blender and put on until a smooth-ish paste. Little chunks add texture and the chipotle chillies never break down fully. Place back into the saucepan and cook until the tomatoes and capsicum have reduced, tasting as you go. The end result should be a sauce where you get the heat of the chillies, the taste of smoke, and some acidity and sweetness to balance these.

*Note: As you’re using raw ingredients the acidity and flavour profiles change with the seasons and where they are grown. These * marked ingredients create the ‘balance’ in the sauce. The amounts provided are a guide. Taste it and let your palate determine if you need more of one of each of these.

Smoking fresh jalapenos to become chipotle is easier than it sounds. Get your Weber (if you don’t have one, buy one!), get 6-8 coals going and then place some chunks of hickory in an empty tuna can over coals. Get some fresh jalapeno chillies, chop them in half, place on grill of Weber and adjust so you only let in small amounts of air at the bottom and smoke out the top. You want to have minimal heat; you’re smoking, not cooking the chillies. They will be done when they start to curl and look wrinkled. If you do this step also smoke the garlic gloves, onion and capsicums as this only enhances the smoke flavour. For a lil’ treat, chuck a peeled prawn and some cream cheese in a few of the jalapeno halves, hold together with a tooth pick and smoke – gold!