Chili – Cook-Off 15

[weedy]

To each his own. Obviously. 

 

But it I don't get Tabasco as 'unique'. 

 

I doubt the average buyer would be able to blindfold tell it from cholula or Jack's or a dozen others. 

 

And i'm certain that if it were brand new in today's market, the entire hot sauce/hot food world would rip it apart as boring and vinegary. 

 

I get that that there is a niche for Louisiana style hot sauce. I just think even in that corner there are much better ones. And a dozen near identical ones. 

 

If you like a hot sauce without other 'flavour', I'd recommend my friends A and B American. 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by weedy (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I'm sort of attached to using Tabasco in a Bloody Mary, but in truth, Crystal, Cholula or other vinegary southern sauces would do well too. Clearly it's just out of habit. Forty years ago there weren't the options there are now and Tabasco must have had brainy marketing, especially in the north.

[lindag]

A couple years ago I did a side by side taste test of the dozen or so bottles of hot sauce I had on hand.

Tabasco came in dead last by a huge margin.

 

[Paul Fink]

14 hours ago, lindag said:

A couple years ago I did a side by side taste test of the dozen or so bottles of hot sauce I had on hand.

Tabasco came in dead last by a huge margin.

 

 

What was in first place?

[lindag]

Actually, then it was Dirty Dick's Hot Sauce.  But that was before I'd tried Inner Beauty.  

[kayb]

I have two go-to hot sauces: Pappadeaux, and Pickapeppa. Both are complex, and carry more taste than heat.

 

[lindag]

 I made my chili a couple of days ago.  At the last minute I found I didn’t have the chipotle chilies in adobo and wasn't in a position to head out to the store (bad hair day) and didn’t want to get 'gussied up' to meet the world so I had to fake it with the spices in my pantry.  I used a bit of this and that to make do and it turned out very well.

My chili was quite good and I'll make a variation of it again, this time with the chipotle chilies.

[scubadoo97]

Katie I buy dry chipotles ( I use the small red moritas ) and dry them further in the oven before grinding for fresh powder.   Advisable to remove seeds before grinding 

[lindag]

I had some of my leftover chili today along with some Nabisco Saltine minis.  Actually the best thing that's happened to soup and chili.

They're small so they're toastier than the original, therefore better.

[Jaymes]

I always have some Mexican chocolate for hot cocoa on hand and that's what goes into my chili. My average pot of chili gets a one-quarter wedge from the disc of chocolate. Most of this kind of Mexican chocolate has a little sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Perfect.

 

For hot sauces, I love all of Marie's (first had them on a trip to Belize years ago), all of Rancho Gordo's, Valentina and, if we're talking truly hot, Yucateco. 

[Jaymes]

On 10/18/2017 at 9:08 PM, Katie Meadow said:

I find that Chipotle Chile powder works well if I don't have a little can. And since I end up throwing out 97 percent of every can I open it makes more sense. 

 

Canned chipotle freezes very well. I always put the leftover into a small plastic baggie, flatten it a bit and stick it into the freezer. When I need some, it's easy to break off however much I need and put the rest back into the freezer. 

 

Not only is this method more economical and less wasteful, it's really so nice and convenient to have some on hand. 

Edited October 21, 2017 by Jaymes (log)

[scubadoo97]

Speaking of canned chipotle;  Try adding a can or two of  canned  chipotle in adobo to a block of guava paste and blend it in the food pro.  A wonderful condiment to add to meats and stews or spread on a slab of toasted Cuban bread.  Hot, spicy and sweet.  Always a good combo 

[OldHobo]

I rarely make stuff the same way twice. Depends on what's in the fridge mostly. Tomorrow's chili will be made with about a pound of dark meat from the rib end of a pork loin which I'll brown, set aside, and add back near the end. Never used pork loin in chili before but think it will be ok. Will also have 1/2 lb. dried pintos, 2 poblanos and two jalapenos, 28 oz can of tomatoes, onion, garlic, lots of generic chili powder, cocoa, crushed cumin and coriander. About 20 minutes before it's done I'll add cilantro with the browned pork.

Quote

Try adding a can or two of  canned  chipotle in adobo to a block of guava paste...

Guava paste is new to me. I'll look for it.

[Katie Meadow]

Okay, I have a question, or really a thought. I lived in New Mexico during the late sixties and early seventies. If memory serves, mixing red and green chile was not common. You got a bowl of red or a bowl of green. You had enchiladas verde or enchiladas rojas. For chile dishes using red chile you used dried red chiles, rehydrated them and made a slurry that could be added to taste or used in a sauce. Or you used dried red chile powders instead. For dishes verde you used fresh green chiles that were roasted, peeled and chopped. Sometimes a sauce was made using tomatillos with green chiles, as in a typical green enchilada sauce. 

 

Not one to object to experimentation or necessity or just using whatever is on hand, I get that flexibility is a good thing. However, out of habit I tend not to use green chiles in a cooked red chile/tomato based sauce. The flavors are very different. Perhaps my feelings about chile are simply regional. I suspect that Texas-style, which I really don't know much about, don't follow those formulas. Of course my concept of anything Texan is often hazy. I have this idea that in Texas they just throw chopped fresh jalapeños into everything. Of course if you are making squirrel stew I can't see how a can of Ro-tel and some jalapeños could possibly be a bad thing. (Apologies to Homesick Texan--I am devoted to your recipes for escabeche and queso!)

 

I do love fresh tomatoes and fresh green chiles together, such as in the basic summer salsa that mixes roasted green chiles, diced tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and garlic. But when it comes to cooked sauces or pots of chile/chili I tend to keep them apart. 

[OldHobo]

Interesting Katie.

 

Anyway, it's unlikely that anything I ever cook doesn't violate somebody's rule, convention, or honored tradition.  

Edited October 26, 2017 by OldHobo (log)

[weedy]

3 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

... If memory serves, mixing red and green chile was not common. You got a bowl of red or a bowl of green. You had enchiladas verde or enchiladas rojas. ...

 

 

really?

 

My experience is that you can always order enchiladas with Red, or Green, or Christmas

[Katie Meadow]

2 hours ago, weedy said:

 

 

really?

 

My experience is that you can always order enchiladas with Red, or Green, or Christmas

I don't remember any "Christmas" option. Maybe it is more popular now than back then? I lived mostly in Albuquerque, with occasional time in Santa Fe and Taos. Not saying Christmas chile didn't exist! Since 1974 my trips back to NM have been brief, way too brief. I miss it. One of my closest friends was from a multi-generational Taos family and much of what I learned was from her father, who was a great cook. At her family's house you could always count on a pot of long simmered posole and an addictive bowl or red chile, which could be added to the posole to taste. The rest I gleaned from eating at various tried and true dives and cafes over a period of six or seven years. Not an expert, but I ate a lot of  New Mexican food.

[OldHobo]

On 10/26/2017 at 10:02 AM, Katie Meadow said:

Okay, I have a question, or really a thought. I lived in New Mexico during the late sixties and early seventies. If memory serves, mixing red and green chile was not common. You got a bowl of red or a bowl of green. You had enchiladas verde or enchiladas rojas. For chile dishes using red chile you used dried red chiles, rehydrated them and made a slurry that could be added to taste or used in a sauce. Or you used dried red chile powders instead. For dishes verde you used fresh green chiles that were roasted, peeled and chopped. Sometimes a sauce was made using tomatillos with green chiles, as in a typical green enchilada sauce. 

 

Not one to object to experimentation or necessity or just using whatever is on hand, I get that flexibility is a good thing. However, out of habit I tend not to use green chiles in a cooked red chile/tomato based sauce. The flavors are very different. Perhaps my feelings about chile are simply regional. I suspect that Texas-style, which I really don't know much about, don't follow those formulas. Of course my concept of anything Texan is often hazy. I have this idea that in Texas they just throw chopped fresh jalapeños into everything. Of course if you are making squirrel stew I can't see how a can of Ro-tel and some jalapeños could possibly be a bad thing. (Apologies to Homesick Texan--I am devoted to your recipes for escabeche and queso!)

 

I do love fresh tomatoes and fresh green chiles together, such as in the basic summer salsa that mixes roasted green chiles, diced tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and garlic. But when it comes to cooked sauces or pots of chile/chili I tend to keep them apart. 

6

Katie, thanks for this post. I've been mulling it over. I like combining green pepper, poblanos in particular, with red chile/tomato based sauce. In fact, I tend to use poblanos in place of bell peppers most of the time; sometimes broiled and charred skin removed and sometimes in a sofrito or creole mirepoix. Like it in tomato-based pasta sauces also. But back to chili. Sometimes I'll use a homemade red chile sauce made from anchos, pasillas, or guajillos in place of some or all the tomatoes; didn't have any on hand the other day. With a chile sauce, fresh green peppers wouldn't have been needed but I wouldn't hesitate to use them if the fancy struck me. Not having any culinary customers or bosses can sometimes leave me out by myself on a desert island but I checked and I'm not the only one.

1. Rick Bayless combines tomatoes and poblanos in Grilled Tomato-Poblano Rajas
2. Don't follow many recipes but have made Daisy Martinez' Pork Braised in Guajillo Chile Sauce many times.
3. Even a purist like Diana Kennedy writes about using poblanos in tomato sauce for eggs or pork.

 

Please know that I intend no disrespect toward you or your New Mexico mentor, but speaking of that. New Mexico Hatch chiles are a linchpin of that region's cuisine. We never see them red-ripe in this neck of the woods but I believe they are commonly used both red a green locally. Could these be the red and green chiles that your friend's father warned you not to combine? Anyway, thanks for the opportunity to think about the question and do a little research. I had to look pretty hard to find an example of Diana Kennedy breaking this "rule." There isn't an example of it in the one book of hers on my shelf. 

[weedy]

Can't confuse real Mexican cooking with southwest or tex mex though. 

 

I love southwestern food. But it's not Mexican. 

 

 

[weedy]

http://nmchileassociation.com/

 

"Those who love New Mexico cuisine have definite opinions as to which flavor they prefer.  If a combination of the two flavors is ordered, it is known as "Christmas"..."

[OldHobo]

30 minutes ago, weedy said:

Can't confuse real Mexican cooking with southwest or tex mex though. 

 

I love southwestern food. But it's not Mexican. 

 

 

I've lived more than half my life, maybe 35 years, in various territories ceded by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. My opinion is the culinary culture lines are pretty fuzzy.

[Lisa Shock]

1 hour ago, weedy said:

http://nmchileassociation.com/

 

"Those who love New Mexico cuisine have definite opinions as to which flavor they prefer.  If a combination of the two flavors is ordered, it is known as "Christmas"..."

 

'Christmas' isn't really a combination. It happens when making up a plate for service. The enchilada or burrito, or whatever, is plated and then green sauce is poured on half the plate and red on the other half. The sauces (and chile stews which are more substantial) are still prepared very differently. There has also been a great deal of change over time, in addition to changes with regional spread. I have a 1940-ish copyright cookbook from UNM, and it features things like chicken boiled for a minimum of 4 hours with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice -no chile peppers at all. That chicken then gets added to chile, but, it's very different from what any region does nowadays.

[weedy]

6 hours ago, OldHobo said:

I've lived more than half my life, maybe 35 years, in various territories ceded by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. My opinion is the culinary culture lines are pretty fuzzy.

 

they're not that fuzzy in Mexico.

 

much like Italian food in Italy doesn't have much America-Italian influence.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

On 10/28/2017 at 6:02 PM, Lisa Shock said:

 

'Christmas' isn't really a combination. It happens when making up a plate for service. The enchilada or burrito, or whatever, is plated and then green sauce is poured on half the plate and red on the other half. The sauces (and chile stews which are more substantial) are still prepared very differently. There has also been a great deal of change over time, in addition to changes with regional spread. I have a 1940-ish copyright cookbook from UNM, and it features things like chicken boiled for a minimum of 4 hours with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice -no chile peppers at all. That chicken then gets added to chile, but, it's very different from what any region does nowadays.

 

There is also the huevos divorciados dish that came to my mind first when the discussion turned to separating red from green chilis. I like this particular dish with a line of good frioles refritos running across the plate between each egg on it's own tortilla to keep the "divorce" of flavors from mingling. As a vegetarian, Lisa, this is something you might be interested in trying, if you haven't already. It's simple, but very delicious. Erm? not sure if you eat eggs. Maybe replace with refried beans, if not.

 

As for me, I put both jalapenos and red chilis in a red chili, and love it that way. Mine must also have beans of contrasting colors, ideally.

[Lisa Shock]

I should point out that my favorite green chile (sauce or stew) is when I make it from fresh orange chiles -the green ones just starting to turn color. It's only possible to make about 5 days a year, unless a person is able to roast and freeze a lot of orange peppers.

 

And, thanks, @Thanks for the Crepes, those eggs look delicious. I do enjoy the occasional egg. I never really thought about Christmassing them, I generally make New Mexico style migas (scrambled eggs with sauteed day-old tortilla strips) smothered in green chile. Looks like my next breakfast is going to be great!