Chipotle Potatoes

Last night we went to Texas Lone Star in Chelsea with my sister's family to say goodbye to her daughter who is leaving for university tomorrow. The food was unexceptional, but the Margaritas were awful - sickly sweet with hardly any lime juice.

Anyway, as promised yesterday, with no recipe from last night I return to Chipotle Potatoes.

First you need to make the chipotle paste. This is a staple in my kitchen and keeps forever in the fridge provided that there is a layer of oil on top.

Heat half a pint of water and stir in 3 Tbsps soft brown sugar. In the meantime heat some (groundnut) oil in a frying pan. When hot, drop in 3 batches of 10 chipotles. When the chipotles have puffed up and softened (about a minute) transfer them with a slotted spoon to the sugar water. Once you have cooked all the chipotles transfer them, along with the sugar water into a blender and blend into a smooth paste. Return the paste to a high sided frying pan or saucepan. Add 500ml of groundnut oil and cook very gently for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool then drain off as much of the oil as you can into a separate container. You've now got some delicious chipotle oil as well as a container of chipotle paste. Pour enough fresh groundnut oil over the chipotle paste to cover completely then store in the refrigerator.

Now peel some potatoes and boil for ten minutes. Remove, drain and slice them about 5mm thick. Pour some chipotle oil onto a baking tray and add a Tsp of the chipotle paste. Lay all of the potato slices in the oil, not overlapping. Sprinkle salt over them. Bake in the oven at 200C for about 7 minutes. Remove and flip over the slices. Sprinkle with salt again and put them back in the oven for another 7 minutes.

The result should be crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and with a delicious chipotle flavour. They aren't as spicy as you might think.