Chile Questions

[GB]

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?

The reason you would use different varieties is because they all taste different. Lets look at it as if it were fruit. Why would you use plums when you could get peaches for less $$$. The answer is they taste different. Now some chilis have similar flavors, but others vary greatly. Chipotles are smoked and have a very smoky flavor. Habaneros, even though they are very hot, have a very fruity flavor. Each chili is different.

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.

Yes you can grind seeds up with the chili. This is done on purpose sometimes as the seeds carry some of the heat. The white membrane of the pepper is actually where the heat comes from. The seeds, because of their proximity to the membrane, get some of that heat. If you want your chili to be hotter then use the white membrane and seeds. If you want it to be less hot then eliminate as much of the seeds and white membrane as possible.

 

[Andy M.]

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

Chipotles are smoked jalapeños. Cayenne is not smoked. You can get the heat from cayenne but not the delicious smoked jalapeño flavor.

Before you commit to the simpler approach, try some experiments using different options for for peppers. Chipotles in place of cayenne, for example. Then, if you feel it's not worth the effort, stick with your current approach. If not, you'll have found some great new tastes to add to your dishes!

 

[Citizen Bob]

As for Chili Con Carne you want a ground red Chili along with Garlic,cumin

Yeah, but which chiles do I use? That's what I am trying to find out.

and other spices.

What other spices?

I would like to know what chiles and other spices are used to make Gebhardts Chili Powder. Surely someone has reverse-engineered that recipe.

 

[Citizen Bob]

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

You have to edit the post with markups. When you open this post, for example, notice that your question is marked with container brackets with the word quote inside. The ending bracket adds the forward slash. This is the same as HTML markups.

To get line breaks you use the angle bracket container with the characters br followed by a space and then a forward slash. You can see two of them above this new paragraph.

 

[Andy M.]

Yeah, but which chiles do I use? That's what I am trying to find out.

What other spices?

I would like to know what chiles and other spices are used to make Gebhardts Chili Powder. Surely someone has reverse-engineered that recipe.

Ancho chiles are a good base for chili. I also add garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, paprika and cayenne. As mentioned earlier, if you add different chiles, the chili will taste different.

I've never seen or heard of Gebhardt's so I cannot help you there.

 

[Citizen Bob]

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. Delicious!

I'll bet it is. It sounds similar to a beef preparation I make with a marinade of fajita seasoning, chili powder and extra cumin plus bitter orange. We bread it and fry it like milanesa. Talk about an out of sight taste.

There is no doubt that chili powder must be made from fresh roasted chiles. I also roast cumin seeds for a great taste.

 

[Citizen Bob]

Ancho chiles are a good base for chili. I also add garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, paprika and cayenne. As mentioned earlier, if you add different chiles, the chili will taste different.

You all have convinced me I must use as many chiles as necessary to develop a full flavor.

I've never seen or heard of Gebhardt's so I cannot help you there.

Gebhardt is the alleged inventer of chili powder. It is by far the most popular specialty product for the gourmet chili cook.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001VS9YC/103-1490421-8043825?v=glance&n=3370831

But it is not anywhere near as good as homemade from fresh roasted chiles. And it is very expensive. It serves as the benchmark for chili powder recipes. Here's an excerpt from an article discussing the origins of chili.

http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/cliff/chiliart.html

Somewhere along the way, someone made the whole process easier by inventing chili powder. But, there is even debate over that. One candidate seems to be a German immigrant, William Gebhart, who, in 1902 (or thereabouts) at New Braunfels, Texas (not far from San Antonio) created chili 'powder' which helped popularize chili and eventually was sold under the brand name Gebhardt's Chili Powder. In fact, Gebhart's Chili powder, with a Mexican Sombrero bearing the name on the label, is still sold in the area.

 

[jennyema]

It's certainly not necessary to add a whole bunch of different chiles to get full flavor.

The chile(s) that you should use is/are the ones that suit your palate. For example a habarnero, like GB, says, tastes very different from an ancho or a casacabel or a piquin, etc. Your chili will taste different because of it.

The only way you can find out what you like is by tasting different types of chilis. Penzey's has very fresh, high quality product. Maybe you should order a few difft. types of chiles and do a taste test.

Also, it's important to remember that flavor of the chili is created by a whole lot of ingredients combnined in synergy with each other. For example, I use dry ancho chiles, rehydrated into a paste but I also add unsweetened chocolate and lots of other spices.

Commercial chili powder is usually a mixture of ground chiles (very often ancho), cumin, mexican oregano, and garlic. Soemetimes salt and msg are added.

Experiment!

 

[Citizen Bob]

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

I lived in Albuquerque many years ago and it was the only place where they asked you if you wanted sliced Jalapeno on your burger.

 

[GB]

I lived in Albuquerque many years ago and it was the only place where they asked you if you wanted sliced Jalapeno on your burger.

We have tons of restaurants up here that do that.

 

[jpmcgrew]

Im sure Albuquerque serves Jalapenos on your burger but the favorite choice for New Mexicans is chopped green chili even McDonalds offers it.
Once you eat it a few times you become hopelessly addicted alot of people including me start to jones if we are some place where you cant get it.

 

[corazon]

Im sure Albuquerque serves Jalapenos on your burger but the favorite choice for New Mexicans is chopped green chili even McDonalds offers it.
Once you eat it a few times you become hopelessly addicted alot of people including me start to jones if we are some place where you cant get it.

No doubt about that! Our yearly trip isn't the holidays, but in September, when the green chile is harvested. Last year we didn't go because of Katrina, so dear mil peeled and jarred 3 bags for us!!! Then she shipped it. We almost always have a jar open for just about everything. Last week I stuffed some pork chops with green chile & cheddar, breaded in panko & fried in evoo. You've got to try it jp! How's the weather in Raton? I heard it's hot! My family did the walk to the Santuario in Chimayo last week, have you ever done it?

 

[jpmcgrew]

Ya Baby!Sounds really good corazon it's a little bit hard to explain the green chili thing to people that have never had it.Or how we crave it so much, it's loaded with vitamin C by the way.
It's not too hot but I live at 7500 ft we have had alot of wind and it's really dry havn't had any moisture in along time its 10% humidity outside and only 20% in the house Im cranking a couple of humidifiers then it will only get up to 30%.
Big fire danger right now.
Wish we could get some of your weather.
Never did the walk to Chimayo but I have visited, an awsome experience.
Still have not made to any of the old churches or museums when I go to Santa Fe.

 

[corazon]

It is hard to explain the obsession. I know people look at us like we're crazy when we tell them of our annual trip. We've been fairly good at rationing this year, I think it's because my dh has started taking classes in the evenings 4 times a week, so I only cook dinner 1-3 times each week. It helps us slow down on the chile intake. I love driving around when they have the chile roasters out, roll the windows down and smell it all over town! We have some friends getting married on Fiesta weekend this year, so we'll be peeling around then!

 

[jpmcgrew]

Yep!Cant beat that.The good thing about the dry weather it insures a good chili crop.

 

[Citizen Bob]

Why would you use plums when you could get peaches for less $$$. The answer is they taste different.

I can taste plums and peaches and decide which I want. I cannot taste ground chile and tell which I want. Chili powder has to cook in something to get a feel for the taste.

Yes you can grind seeds up with the chili. This is done on purpose sometimes as the seeds carry some of the heat.

In my case it's only because I do not want to spend the effort to clean chiles completely. I want to cut off the stem, cut it in half and shake the loose stuff out. If anything remains then it gets included in the final product.

It took me two hours to process 6 Cascabel, 6 New Mexicos, 6 Anchos - clean completely and roast That's far too much time and effort unless it is absolutely necessary, which it does not appear to be.

One of the problems was that the Anchos were not completely dry so they took a lot longer than 10 minutes in the oven to be roasted. Next time they are going to sit in a dehydrator for a couple days in advance.

 

[corazon]

There's nothing like it!

 

[GB]

I cannot taste ground chile and tell which I want.

Sure you can. Taste the peppers. taste them before they are dry. Taste them after you dry them. It is just like opening your spice cabinet and tasting cumin, fennel seed, black pepper, etc. Each pepper will have it's own flavor and you can taste the differences between them. Give it a try.

 

[jennyema]

Buy small amounts of different peppers from Penzeys

 

[Citizen Bob]

Sure you can. Taste the peppers. taste them before they are dry. Taste them after you dry them.

I can't tell any noticable difference among New Mexico, Cascabel and Guajillo.

I think I will settle for now on this recipe:

3 Cascabel chiles, roasted
3 Ancho chiles, roasted
3 Chipotle chiles, roasted
2 T. cumin seeds, roasted
2 T. garlic powder
1 T. Mexican oregano
1 t. Hungarian paprika

That's essentially the same recipe that Alton Brown presented on the Food TV Network: http://tinyurl.com/4xm4q/