Cold weather means Chili

[Nick B]

I don't know air fryers, but Instant Pots are always big sale items around Christmas.  Pick one up for $59 next Cyber Monday.  In the mean time the Crock pot cooker does just as good a job or better... but     slow.

Dude! It is the greatest thing since the discovery of fire!  Cook things that normally mean an oil bath, with just a spray of your oil of choice.

The best eggplant parm I have ever made was in an air fryer.  Do yourself a favor: get one!  Truly the best addition to our kitchen ever!  Air fryer fries are the best... ever!

I had a hunch you’d be saying that. It sure would be nice to have crispy skin on a chicken breast. All of the store-bought stuff never has enough crispiness to the skin. I did notice that the Instapot and similar devices have the pressure cooker feature. I’ve had a pressure cooker in the past, but haven’t used it much. But it might be nice to have it in the all in one device.

[Nick B]

I don't know air fryers, but Instant Pots are always big sale items around Christmas.  Pick one up for $59 next Cyber Monday.  In the mean time the Crock pot cooker does just as good a job or better... but     slow.

Thanks, Memorial Day might be a good time.

[Nick B]

Just finished a bowl couple of bowls. 
Man, i love my Instant Pot. Soooooo easy.   

Yep, the InstaPot and our air fryer are our go to kitchen slaves since they found me.  Thank you daughters-of-mine 

Air fryer eggplant parm is THE deal.  Too easy and healthy, too.

Dave,
I haven’t been able to find any of the peppers mentioned here. So I decided to buy the New Mexico peppers. What do those taste like? As to cooking them, the seeds are discarded and the skin is used?

[S Clark]

Most "New Mexico" peppers are dried hatch peppers (which can vary quite a bit).  They are low/medium heat.  As to seeds, the more you include the hotter the dish.  Skins can be bitter, so I always scrap the pulp and throw out the skins.  Dave will let us know if I'm off on any of this. 

[P.I.]

Most "New Mexico" peppers are dried hatch peppers (which can vary quite a bit).  They are low/medium heat.  As to seeds, the more you include the hotter the dish.  Skins can be bitter, so I always scrap the pulp and throw out the skins.  Dave will let us know if I'm off on any of this.

Yes and no.

Hatch chili is available in mild, medium, hot, extra hot and super hot.  Extra hot and super hot will peel paint off of the wall.    Also, the varieties differ.  There are Anaheims, Sandias and Big Jims.  Big Jims are very meaty and are the medium variety.  Those are what we eat the most.

Extra hot and super hot are in the Serrano and Thai Bird heat ranges: 10-20,000 - 50-100,000 scoville.  Much hotter than a jalapeño...

[Nick B]

Most "New Mexico" peppers are dried hatch peppers (which can vary quite a bit).  They are low/medium heat.  As to seeds, the more you include the hotter the dish.  Skins can be bitter, so I always scrap the pulp and throw out the skins.  Dave will let us know if I'm off on any of this.

The peppers that I have seen most often are the California ones. Low to medium heat is a good start. Going over your recipe, is the flavor based in the boiled water from heating the chilies?
You mentioned scraping with butterknife to remove pulp, throw away skins. I don’t quite follow you… When you say removing the pulp, doesn’t that simply mean the seeds and the inside structure and all that remains then is the skins which you end up throwing away. So if that’s true, what is it of the chili that is left and actually kept? As you might be able to tell, I’ve only used Schilling packet mixes

[Nick B]

Most "New Mexico" peppers are dried hatch peppers (which can vary quite a bit).  They are low/medium heat.  As to seeds, the more you include the hotter the dish.  Skins can be bitter, so I always scrap the pulp and throw out the skins.  Dave will let us know if I'm off on any of this.

Yes and no.

Hatch chili is available in mild, medium, hot, extra hot and super hot.  Extra hot and super hot will peel paint off of the wall.    Also, the varieties differ.  There are Anaheims, Sandias and Big Jims.  Big Jims are very meaty and are the medium variety.  Those are what we eat the most.

Extra hot and super hot are in the Serrano and Thai Bird heat ranges: 10-20,000 - 50-100,000 scoville.  Much hotter than a jalapeño...

Thanks for the info, Dave. I may try online shopping in the future as the selection in my town is pretty limited. I am staying on the low side of the Scoville range 🥵

[StereoNut]

Even with the beans, looks like a good recipe.  But rice???  Surely you meant cornbread? 

I'd be very happy with cornbread. 

SN

[S Clark]

The peppers that I have seen most often are the California ones. Low to medium heat is a good start. Going over your recipe, is the flavor based in the boiled water from heating the chilies?
You mentioned scraping with butterknife to remove pulp, throw away skins. I don’t quite follow you… When you say removing the pulp, doesn’t that simply mean the seeds and the inside structure and all that remains then is the skins which you end up throwing away. So if that’s true, what is it of the chili that is left and actually kept? As you might be able to tell, I’ve only used Schilling packet mixes

The water used to boil the dried pods has quite a bit of flavor, so I use it as stock.  Break off the stems and dump the loose seeds before boiling (or keep them for more capsaicin). When you boil the peppers, you get a gelatinous inner meat that I scrap out (forgot to mention to wear disposable gloves!). The gel is scraped from the tougher skin.   A dozen or more peppers will make about 3/4-1 cup of paste depending on size of the peppers.  I find that not using the skins make a chili that has less bitter flavor profiles.  I usually still add powdered Chili powder.  I bet if I used more dried chilis I could skip the extra powder, just add in some cumin and more garlic. 

[Nick B]

The peppers that I have seen most often are the California ones. Low to medium heat is a good start. Going over your recipe, is the flavor based in the boiled water from heating the chilies?
You mentioned scraping with butterknife to remove pulp, throw away skins. I don’t quite follow you… When you say removing the pulp, doesn’t that simply mean the seeds and the inside structure and all that remains then is the skins which you end up throwing away. So if that’s true, what is it of the chili that is left and actually kept? As you might be able to tell, I’ve only used Schilling packet mixes

The water used to boil the dried pods has quite a bit of flavor, so I use it as stock.  Break off the stems and dump the loose seeds before boiling (or keep them for more capsaicin). When you boil the peppers, you get a gelatinous inner meat that I scrap out (forgot to mention to wear disposable gloves!). The gel is scraped from the tougher skin.   A dozen or more peppers will make about 3/4-1 cup of paste depending on size of the peppers.  I find that not using the skins make a chili that has less bitter flavor profiles.  I usually still add powdered Chili powder.  I bet if I used more dried chilis I could skip the extra powder, just add in some cumin and more garlic.

Thanks for all that. Very helpful! …. and I do have gloves. Will try to make this soon and hope it’s reasonably edible. The hazards of being a bachelor….

[P.I.]

OK, guys and gals(?) here you go for all things New Mexico chili:

https://chileaddict.com/

Yep, they ship and the owner is a very cool lady that has owned it forever!   

[Nick B]

OK, guys and gals(?) here you go for all things New Mexico chili:

https://chileaddict.com/

Yep, they ship and the owner is a very cool lady that has owned it forever!   

Thanks, Dave. Great site…have bookmarked it.

[S Clark]

OK, guys and gals(?) here you go for all things New Mexico chili:

https://chileaddict.com/

Yep, they ship and the owner is a very cool lady that has owned it forever!   

Cool store!  Years ago I had a pound of dried green chili powder that I bought from a roadside seller in the middle of the NM desert while traveling from here to there.  I used it for years before it finally lost it's flavor. 
I've never seen it in stores anywhere in Texas... so I'll be placing an order soon. 
Thanks, Dave. 

Update: These guys are competitive on pricing, but not on shipping.  $20 to ship 4 oz of powder that could go in a $6 USPS box. 

[P.I.]

OK, guys and gals(?) here you go for all things New Mexico chili:

https://chileaddict.com/

Yep, they ship and the owner is a very cool lady that has owned it forever!   

Cool store!  Years ago I had a pound of dried green chili powder that I bought from a roadside seller in the middle of the NM desert while traveling from here to there.  I used it for years before it finally lost it's flavor. 
I've never seen it in stores anywhere in Texas... so I'll be placing an order soon. 
Thanks, Dave. 

Update: These guys are competitive on pricing, but not on shipping.  $20 to ship 4 oz of powder that could go in a $6 USPS box.

FYI, the $6.00 USPS box is now $9.45.  I shipped two out before I came over to visit Danny.  USPS has been raising rates about every 2 months, but at least their service sucks.

[dflee]

"USPS has been raising rates about every 2 months, but at least their service sucks."
Some things never change.
Besides, they're just keeping up with FedUp.

Don