Chile Questions

[Citizen Bob]

I thought I had posted this earlier but I cannot find it so I am posting it again.
1) Is there any reason, other than heat differences, to use different chiles in making chili powder? I can get Cascabel chiles 3 times cheaper than New Mexico or Ancho, so why not just use them and save some money?
2) Can you roast and grind chiles with a few seeds and not cause a bad taste? I would like to process dried Cascabel chiles by cutting off the stem and cutting once in the middle and end and then shake the seeds out. That will result in a few staying behind.
3) My basic recipe is 1.5 wt. oz. ground chiles
2 T. ground cumin
2 T. granualted garlic
1 T. Mexican oregano
1 t. Hungarian paprika
Any comments, recommendations especially about the amount of ground chiles per the rest of the ingredients.
Thanks.

 

[auntdot]

Hi Bob,

If there is anything that confuses me as much as chiles, I don't know what it is.

I love and grow them.

But all the different varieties make my head spin.

The ones you have listed however, at least to us, are not very hot.

You can easily dry them. But why worry about a few seeds?

We just wash them and remove the seeds. Take a paper towel and rub the inside and they will all come out.

It is your chile powder, use the variety you like.

Cascabel will work just fine.

We generally go a bit higher on the Scoville scale, but we are limited in what we can get at the local stores (live in VA, and the stuff we get is either a bit tame , poblanos, their dried friends anchos, jalapenos, and then we take the big jump to habaneros. Love their flavor but they are just too hot for us.)

We are not chile heads, but come very close. We go through a lot bottles of chile sauce in one year.

There are very few dishes that cannot be helped with a little splash of the Capsaicin, at least in our humble opinion.

Take care.

 

[Citizen Bob]

NOTE: The text in this post is not formatting properly. What settings do I need for it to format as usual?

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The ones you have listed however, at least to us, are not very hot.

Deliberately so. My wife cannot tolerate capsicum in any form. If I need to heat up a recipe, I just add cayene. That way I can control it.

You can easily dry them. But why worry about a few seeds?

I not only dry them, I roast them. I just want to make sure that if I have some seeds they won't create a bad taste when roasted and ground.

We just wash them and remove the seeds. Take a paper towel and rub the inside and they will all come out.

I want to process the Cascabels with the least effort. So I want to cut the stem off and make one more scissors cut across the chile in the middle to make two smaller pieces. Then I want to shake the seeds and loose pulp out. That's all - no more processing.

It is your chile powder, use the variety you like.

If the other chiles contribute substantially to a different taste, then I am willing to try them. But if they are basically the same taste with different amouts of heat, then why bother?

Cascabel will work just fine.

It is very similar in appearance to New Mexico, Anaheim, Guajillo. So why not just use Cascabel at 1/3 the price?

We generally go a bit higher on the Scoville scale, but we are limited in what we can get at the local stores

I live in Houston which has all the Mexican food anyone would ever want. I can buy Cascabel chiles in bulk for $1.88 per pound.

(live in VA, and the stuff we get is either a bit tame , poblanos, their dried friends anchos, jalapenos,

I could add Chipotles (smoked Jalapenos) for heat but why bother with the variability when I can use cayene to achieve the identical effect and have an accurate measure.

and then we take the big jump to habaneros. Love their flavor but they are just too hot for us.)

My son can chew on a habaneros chile for as long as you are willing to pay him on a dare. I would pass out in 5 seconds.

We are not chile heads, but come very close. We go through a lot bottles of chile sauce in one year.

I am a chili head. I eat it for breakfast.

There are very few dishes that cannot be helped with a little spash of the Capsaicin, at least in our humble opinion.

We make Fajitas, Cesina, Milanesa, Quesadillos but that's about it.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I think it really depends on how much of a pepper afficionado you are. It's not just the heat, there are definite differences in flavor amongst the different peppers. Some are "fruitier" than others; others "spicier" (not to be confused with heat); etc., etc.

But if that sort of thing doesn't make any difference to you, & all you're concerned about is the heat, then it really doesn't make any difference what you use.

 

[Citizen Bob]

I think it really depends on how much of a pepper afficionado you are.

That's just it - I am new to using chiles so I do not know what the various flavors are.

Maybe if I had a reference - for example, does anyone know how to make a Gebhardts Chili Powder lookalike in terms of flavor (ignoring salt and preservatives, MSG, etc)?

It's not just the heat, there are definite differences in flavor amongst the different peppers. Some are "fruitier" than others; others "spicier" (not to be confused with heat); etc., etc.

Then I shall experiment with different kinds. Does anyone have a flavor chart so I can make comparisons. For starters I am evaluating the New Mexico, Ancho, Cascabel, Guajillo and Chipotle. Those are readily available at a decent price and seem to appear in many recipes. Is there really a noticable taste difference (ignoring heat) between the New Mexico and Cascabel/Guajillo? Or is the difference essentially only in the amount of heat?

But if that sort of thing doesn't make any difference to you, & all you're concerned about is the heat, then it really doesn't make any difference what you use.

Quite the contrary, I am not interested in heat - I am interested in chile flavor.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Being I live in New Mexico the Hatch Chili also know as a Anaheim is totally different from the other chilis, chipotle is a smoked Jalpeno, Ancho another totally different chili.The Hatch New Mexico Chili come in mild,medium,hot and really hot I prefer the medium hot.
You cant really group all chilis in one batch different chilis are used for different dishes.Not to mention Asian chilis as far as Im concerened a whole new ball game on those
The best thing is to look up the different chilis and read about them Joy of Cooking has some pretty good descriptions or the internet.

 

[Citizen Bob]

Being I live in New Mexico the Hatch Chili also know as a Anaheim is totally different from the other chilis, chipotle is a smoked Jalpeno, Ancho another totally different chili.The Hatch New Mexico Chili come in mild,medium,hot and really hot I prefer the medium hot.

How much different is the Anaheim from the New Mexico?

You cant really group all chilis in one batch different chilis are used for different dishes.Not to mention Asian chilis as far as Im concerened a whole new ball game on those

I am interested at this stage in only one dish: Chili Con Carne.

The best thing is to look up the different chilis and read about them Joy of Cooking has some pretty good descriptions

I have Rombauers book, so I will look there.

 

[mudbug]

How much different is the Anaheim from the New Mexico?

I am interested at this stage in only one dish: Chili Con Carne. I have Rombauers book, so I will look there.

OK, I have two questions:

What is adobo, actually? A sauce? I see discussion of some chilis in adobo but am unclear on what the stuff is.

Technical question - how do you split a single post into several sections like Citizen Bob did in responding separately to varioius observations?

 

[jpmcgrew]

I believe the anaheim is grown in California,green chili is grown in New Mexico and I know for sure in southern Colorado.The Hatch red or green is the most famous for its earthy flavor.We buy it by the bushel in the fall all the stores have these giant revolving roasters outside where they roast them for you on the spot .I bought 3 bushels last year and Im almost out.After roasting they put them in a big plastic bag where they steam all the way some people will take the skins of all at once when they get home and others like me just put them in ziplocs,freeze then when you need some you thaw them and then take off skins.We often eat chili for breakfast in Huevos Rancheros or Breakfast Burritos.
As for Chili Con Carne you want a ground red Chili along with Garlic,cumin and other spices.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Im not sure on Adobo but we make a dish called Carne Adovada its raw pork cut in cubes and marinaded for 24 hours in a red chili paste/sauce that includes garlic,cumin and oregano mabe some onion pureed into sauce.You then bake or cook on stove or crock pot for a couple of hours.Used as it is or or as a burrito filling I like to make posole with any extra all though you can make posole with all the above ingredients with out marinading as well.Delicious!

 

[mudbug]

thanks, japes. Your dish sounds really good. Now 'splain what posole is, por favor.

 

[jpmcgrew]

AH Posole! its a Mexican,New Mexican dish a stew if you will, made with hominy, red or green chili, pork its often served with avocado slices,shredded lettuce,limes and some other stuff I cant remember.I like mine with cheese and warm flour tortillas.Some people also cook it with either potatoes or rice I use neither as the starch in the hominy is enough for me.
I almost forgot the most important thing, we dont use canned hominy we have dried hominy you can also buy frozen it has to cook a long time to soften it, it pops open and has a nice chewy,corn flavor.It's as different as the cook some like it real bland I like a red chili posole with alot of flavor including beef base lots of garlic ,cumin and some oregano, I also like in a bit of chipotle in it.

 

[mudbug]

I'm not afraid of starting with dried ingredients. But do you cook the hominy first and then add the rest of the stuff - or throw it all in together?

Please be so kind as to scope out the technique/ingredients for me, or point me to a good recipe.

gracias in advance.....

 

[jpmcgrew]

You can throw it all together or start hominy earlier it take a long time for the dried to soften it will never get mushy so count on it being a bit chewy.I like to soak dried hominy overnight and then cook it helps speed up cooking time a little.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Go to http://www.nmchili.com you will get alot of answers there
Click on recipes
I did not like their posole recipe
So do a web search and type in red chili posole

 

[mudbug]

okey doke. thanks, japes!

 

[jpmcgrew]

http://www-psych.nmsu.edu/linda/chile.htm
Check this site out it's better

 

[jpmcgrew]

Here is another site describing chilis with photoshttp://www.aaxnet.com/clove/ingredients/chili.html

 

[mudbug]

Wow! so many chilis, so little time............

will be working my way through all this - slowly.

good link, japes.

 

[kleenex]

Wow! so many chilis, so little time............

will be working my way through all this - slowly.

good link, japes.

Well this site sells pepper seeds for over 1750 kinds of peppers.
http://www.reimerseeds.com/