Chili Colorado-What Happened?

[Andy M.]

I made this recipe I found on the internet with great hopes it would be delicious. It wasn't. My primary complaint is that there was an unpleasant bitterness in the stew.

I've attached the recipe in hopes one or more of you can suggest what caused the bitterness so I can improve this recipe. The basic flavor is very good. I used all dry herbs in place of any fresh herbs in the recipe.

CHILI COLORADO

5 Ea Ancho Chilies
2 Ea Pasilla Chilies
2 Ea Guajillo Chilies
3 C Chicken Stock
2 Lb Pork Butt
TT Salt and Pepper
4 Tb Oil
6 Cl Garlic, chopped
2 Ea Bay Leaves
1 Tb Cumin
2 tsp Fresh Sage, minced
2 tsp Mexican Oregano
5 C Chicken Stock
TT Salt and Pepper

Remove the stems and seeds from the chilies. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and pour it over the chilies. Cover with plastic wrap and let it steep for 30 minutes. Put the chilies and all of the soaking liquid into a blender and purée until very smooth.

Cut the pork shoulder into ½” pieces, season with salt and pepper. Heat half the oil and brown the meat in batches in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat.

Add the garlic to the pot along with the bay leaves, cumin, sage and oregano. Stir that around for about a minute, or until very fragrant. Add in the chicken stock and simmer uncovered for about an hour.

After simmering, stir in the chile purée and simmer for another 45 minutes until the meat is very tender and the sauce is a thick, mahogany-red color. Season with additional salt and pepper.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Possibly the Bay leaves.

 

[Steve Kroll]

I've made similar recipes, but almost always find I need to add some form of tomatoes to offset the bitterness of the dried chilies.

I would also cut back on the number of chilies used. I believe the chili Colorado recipe I have calls for 6 dried chilies for 4 pounds of meat. The amount called for in your recipe seems a little much to me.

Just my couple pesos worth.

 

[medtran49]

I usually add a bit of sugar, besides tomatoes.

 

[Andy M.]

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll try your tips next time.

It seemed like a lot of chilies but what do I know?! It also seems like a lot of liquid. I think I'll cut back a bit.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Something else I wondered about, Andy, is the sage. Sage, to me, has kind of a pungent flavor, and isn't something I would associate with Tex-Mex.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That's what I thought about the bay leaves, too.

 

[CakePoet]

The seeds wall in chilis and the seeds are rather bitter to some and if you drink cola or similar beverages it becomes more bitter. So it can be what you had to drink that causes it. If you want to make something less better you use salt, not sugar. Trust me, take a grapefruit, eat it with salt instead of sugar, you dont need much and it will taste sweeter and less bitter.

 

[Rocklobster]

Agreed about the chilies. with no sweet ingredients to balance that ...maybe something as simple as a bit of sugar would mellow it out..

 

[Andy M.]

Perhaps I should consider another recipe...

 

[Rocklobster]

Perhaps I should consider another recipe...

There’s always that....

 

[Andy M.]

You Guys Are Great!

Considering your advice, I put the leftover chili into a pot and added about a cup of canned tomato I rescued from the freezer and a half tsp of sugar. Then I BTB and RTS for a while and it did the trick. The resulting flavor was great and even SO, who really disliked it first time around, ate some for her lunch.

Thank you all who shared your expertise. I see another meal of chili colorado in our near future.

 

[CakePoet]

I do have good recipe for that... if I can find the cookbook