SLEUTH UNCOVERS DRIED CHIPOTLE - With the help of a Sherlock Holmes type, Sunny discovers where locally fresh dried chipotle can be purchased.

- Hot on the trail
- There's more to Walton Freeman's produce stand than chipotles.
- Chipotle Anecdote
- Chipotle Sandwich Find
- Chipotle Salsa

Over several months I've received phone calls and email asking where fresh dried chipotle (chee-POTE-lay) could be purchased in town. Several local chileheads were also curious and volunteered to investigate the hot and spicy market scene. Two detectives found the chile in Anthony. Threes others found the spice  in mail order catalogs. But chilehead sleuth Joan Lewis went one step further and simply asked a local vendor to supply the chile. As a result, Walton Freeman now offers "the best dried chipotle for miles around," said Las Crucen Joan. "The chipotle is smoked over mesquite and it tastes wonderful in sauces. You should just see the remarkable difference between his [chipotle] and the puny things I've been getting."

Walton Freeman,  whose produce market is part of the Produce and Pottery business on Avenida de Mesilla, agreed to supply the chipotle weekly. "A local resident dries and smokes it for me," he said. Packaged in quart size plastic bags, the chile sells $2.25. Walton also furnishes customers with an endorphin stirring chipotle salsa recipe, shared below, that he and friend Nelson Clayschulte invented. Their alchemy transforms traditional salsa into an extraordinary flavor meld.

Walton's produce stand, covered with "bamboo cane that grows along my irrigation ditch," is located on 4 1/2 acres owned by the Freeman family since the early 50s. Walton, a single father of two is in  the process of purchasing an adjoining10 1/2 acres on which he'll grow alfalfa for three years ("to clean the soil"). He then intends to plant squash, melons, sweet corn, eggplant, tomatoes and other vegetables, all of which will be sold at the stand. "When my girls (Audrey 7 and Melanie 6) grow older, they'll take over the business and carry on the tradition. Not only will they eat very well but they'll respect the importance of agriculture  in New Mexico," he said.

Aside from chipotles, Walton currently stocks red chile - Sandia, Extra Hot Barker, and BR3, the latter of which says Walton is "the hottest dry red chile you can get - even as hot as a hot  green chile."

 Everything sold at his nook, says Walton is "totally New Mexico - it's either made or grown locally or somewhere in the state and," he added, "everything is edible." Hefty, lush ristras, which beckons passersby to the business were braided by craftsmen located "between here and Mesquite," Walton said. "The [ristras] haven't been coated." Other chile fare includes finely ground jalapeno  and green chile Sandia. Walton roasts fresh green chile "from mid July, clear to December."

Up to 700 burlap sacks of chile can be stored in a cooler that's been outfitted to appear like an adobe home and hand  brushed with colorful ristras. But the Produce Market isn't limited to chile food. Walton also sells locally grown garlic, pecans and green greenhouse tomatoes, Deming pinto beans, Hatch broccoli ("which I sold until about a  week before Christmas,"), Tularosa pistachios, Espanola apples, and honey year round. He'll soon stock potted herbs as well as "herbs to clip."

"I enjoy this business. I get to meet a lot of tourists," says Walton. "This place is sometimes like a Chamber of Commerce and an Information Center. [Many] tourists that come to my stand also want directions. Having lived here [in New Mexico] my whole life, I can give good ones."

Produce and Pottery is located directly across the street from Meson de Mesilla at 1900 Avenida de Mesilla. Hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

CHIPOTLE ANECDOTE

Chipotles are actually dried ripe jalapenos. Once the jalapenos are dried, they turn darkish brown, tough, wrinkled and leathery and take on a smoky flavor, which isn't too staggering to tolerate. Mark Miller of Santa Fe's Coyote  Café in The Great Chile Book (Ten Speed Press, 1991), describes the chile almost as if it were an exotic coffee: "Smoky and sweet in flavor with tobacco and chocolate tones, a Brazil nut finish and a subtle, deep rounded  heat."  Dried chipotles can be used for pickling or to enhance soups and pasta dishes, or marinated and ground with other ingredients in a sauce for shrimp or meat.

Chileheads are probably most familiar with chipotle when it's been canned in "adobo," a mild red chile sauce highlighted by tomato and vinegar. You can pluck the chipotles from the adobo sauce for use in most recipes where chipotle alone is called for.

Walton Freeman, who enjoys "hot meat," marinates roast beef in beef broth underscored with chopped chipotle and coarsely ground sun dried Sandia red chile. Once the beef's been cooked, he uses it to create "hot  burritos."

CHIPOTLE SANDWICH FIND

Red Mountain Café, located off North Telshor at 1120 Commerce Drive offers a Cheesy Chipotle sandwich. The bread, stacked with a variety of cheeses, is slathered with a delicious  chipotle sauce that gives the sandwich a gentle but memorable kick.

CHIPOTLE SALSA

4 oz. chipotle
1 (14.5) oz can tomatoes, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. coriander
1 T vinegar
Salt to taste

Cover chipotle with water and bring to a boil; simmer 15-20 minutes. Drain and place in a blender with all other ingredients. Blend to desired consistency. Spice may be  varied to suit taste.