What Can I Do With Ancho Peppers?

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Essie

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
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141
Location
USA,Illinois
A neighbor has given me a bag of dried ancho chili peppers. I really don't know what to do with them. I do use ancho powder for chili, etc. Can I grind these peppers? I would like some other ideas, as well.
Thanks so much.
 
Soak them in water. May take an hour or more. They will swell up some, then use them in stews like a posole, or chili verde, or chili con carne... search the web too.
 
Hopz said:
If you do grind it- do not sniff the powder to see how it smells.
No need to ask me how I know this....

I'm guessing it was the same way I realized that I should really be using a dedicated coffee grinder for making gound habenero powder? :wacko: (although that coffee did wake me right the the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks up!)

John
 
ronjohn55 said:
I'm guessing it was the same way I realized that I should really be using a dedicated coffee grinder for making gound habenero powder? :wacko: (although that coffee did wake me right the the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks up!)

John



hahahahahahahahaahahahahaha:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :ROFLMAO:

That could be a new starbucks flavor though.
 
Grind em!

Rehydrating is a good way to go but consider grinding them. Once ground they are easy to store and use. For extra depth in flavor I add ground anchos to all kinds of things: pasta sauces and meat rubs come immediately to mind.

To grind the anchos, first place them on a cookie sheet in a medium oven until they are brittle and break when bent. Be sure to turn them often so they don't burn. Break the chiles into small pieces and grind in spice mill or coffee grinder.

For recipes and more info on ancho and other spices, have a look at The Epicentre Exotic Herbs and Spices at [B]http://www.theepicentre.com[/B]
 
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Bear said:
first place them on a cookie sheet in a medium oven
I use a 300F oven measured with an oven thermometer in the middle of the cookie sheet. Different chiles have different hydration levels and therefore take different times to dry. My question is how do you know you have not burned the chiles? Is 300F safe? How would you know if you did burn the chiles? I have a large dehydrator which presumably can be used to dry chiles (130F, 6-12 hours). I assume the risk of burning the chiles is gone if you do it that way. Anyone ever dry chiles with a dehydrator, and if so what settings did you use?
 
Hopz said:
Soak them in water. May take an hour or more. They will swell up some, then use them in stews like a posole, or chili verde, or chili con carne... search the web too.



I have not had a good posole in SOOO long. If you've never had it before it's really worth trying. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't menudo very similar to posole except for the obvious difference that menudo uses tripe?
 
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