Your Votes Are Needed, Support The Chipotle!!

Hello Smoky Chipotle lovers. A fellow Chipotle-head / Foodie needs our help to get him to the top, Top Chef that is! His Recipe has been chosen as a top ten contender on a Top Chef challenge. Here is his letter on Foodbuzz:


Ok all I just received approval to announce my news! A few weeks ago while watching Top Chef on BRAVO TV, Quaker Oats advertised a commercial for the first ever Top Chef Quaker Oats Viewer Quickfire Challenge! Needless to say I entered my recipe, “Oatmeal Macadamia Nut Crusted Pork Tenderloin, with a Coconut Chipotle Sauce, and Grilled Pineapple Relish.“ On March 2nd I had received the news that out of a ton of entries I had placed in the top ten as a semi-finalist. Needless to say I was shocked, still am. So here is where all of my FoodBuzz friends come into play. I need all of you to go to this site
http://quickfire.bravotv.com/quickfire/viewall.php
and place your vote for my Oatmeal Macadamia Nut Tenderloin! If I receive enough votes, I will be chosen as a finalist(only 3 are chosen) and flown out to New York to compete for the Grand Prize to appear on a taping of Top Chef at a later date! I can’t tell you how much this means to me, and what an accolade it is for a career. If you should have any questions feel free to ask! YIPPEE I’m a Semi-Finalist:)
Thank you for any and all of your support!
Also make sure that you vote for Oatmeal Macadamia Crusted Pork Tendeloin
Maurice L.
Red Bluff, Ca.
Have a Great Day!

I have included the recipe below, it was ranked in fifth place when I voted. Let your chipotle-head vote be heard click a link over and vote. You can go back and vote once a day!

Oatmeal/Macadamia Crusted Pork Tenderloin with a Coconut Chipotle Sauce & Grilled Caramelized Pineapple Relish

Ingredients

1 1.5 to 2 lb. Pork Tenderloin
1 cup of Quaker Oats
1/2 cup Crushed Macadamia Nuts
1Tbsp Minced Cilantro (add to oats and crushed macadamia nuts)
Eggwash Flour Coat Pork Tenderloin with flour, then eggwash, then oat and macadamia nut mixture. Sear all sides of Pork tenderloin an place in a 350 oven for 13 minutes.

For Sauce
1 Cup of Coconut milk
1Tsp Miso
1Tsp Fresh Minced Garlic
1/4 Tsp Grated Ginger
1 Tbsp puree'd Chipotle Peppers
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
1 Tsp Sesame Oil
1 sprig of Mint
1 Fresh Pineapple (Caramelized) for Relish
1 Maui Onion
1 sprig of Mint Pinch of cinnamon
Clean and Dice Pineapple,
1 cup diced onion
1 Tbsp Chop Mint
1 Tsp add to mixture and add cinnamon.

Sautee' Garlic, Ginger in sesame oil (for 30 seconds), add coconut milk, brown sugar, rice vinegar, Miso, Chipotle Peppers. bring to a boil. reduce.and cover.
For Garnish, top with Caramelized Pineapple Relish and enjoy!

Wikipedia On The Chipotle Pepper

The word chipotle, which was also sometimes spelled chilpoctle and chilpotle, comes to English originally from the Nahuatl word chilpoctli by way of Mexican Spanish. The Nahuatl word chilpoctli means "smoked chile", formed from chil (="chile pepper") + poctli (="smoke"). The original Nahuatl word was spelled "pochilli" and has apparently become reversed. Other early spellings from Mexico are tzilpoctil, tzonchilli and texochilli.

A chipotle (pronounced chee-POTE-lay) is a smoke-dried jalapeño chili used primarily in Mexican, Mexican-American, Tex-Mex, and Mexican-inspired cuisine.

There are many varieties of jalapeños which vary in size and heat. In Mexico, the jalapeño is also known as the cuaresmeño and gordo. Until recently, chipotles were almost exclusively found in the markets of central and southern Mexico. As Mexican food became more popular in the United States in the late 20th century and into the 21st century, jalapeño production and processing began to move into Northern Mexico and the United States.

Typically, a grower will pass through a jalapeño field multiple times, picking the best green jalapeños for market. At the end of the growing season, jalapeños naturally begin to turn red. There is an extensive fresh market for red jalapeños in both Mexico and the United States. Many U.S. growers disk the red jalapeños into the ground. They are kept on the vine as long as possible. When the jalapeños are deep red and have lost much of their moisture, they are selected to be made into chipotles.

The red jalapeños are moved to a closed smoking chamber where they are spread out on metal grills. Wood is placed in a firebox, and the smoke enters the sealed chamber. Every few hours the jalapeños are stirred to improve smoke penetration. The chiles are smoked for several days until most of the moisture is removed. At the end of the process, the chipotles have dried up in a manner akin to prunes or raisins. The underlying heat of the jalapeños is combined with the taste of smoke. Typically ten pounds of jalapeños make one pound of chipotle.

In recent years, growers have begun using large gas dryers. Some processors have even started to use liquid smoke. These techniques produce what most culinary experts believe to be an inferior chipotle chile.

Chipotles are a key ingredient that impart a relatively mild but earthy spiciness to many dishes in Mexican cuisine. The chiles are used to make various salsas. Chipotle chiles can also be ground up and combined with other spices to make a meat marinade known as an adobo.