Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Dried Chili recipes


Richard_D

Recommended Posts

I got the girlfriend (a complete chilli nut) various bags of dried chillis from a chilli farm as a 'different' type of christmas present.

Looking through all our cookbooks (including specific chilli cookbooks) most of the recipes tend to be quite samey and tend to be beef/chicken/pork/fish + whatever heat chilli you can stand.

I'm looking for some recipes where the chillis are more the main ingredient and the main flavour - not just a source of heat. Has anyone got any ideas? or are there any other threads I could look at?

For the record I've got

aji limon

guajillo

habanero

piri piri

ring of fire

chipotle

twilight

Apart from the guajillo, they are all smallish and medium to hot.

cheers

R

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got the girlfriend (a complete chilli nut) various bags of dried chillis from a chilli farm as a 'different' type of christmas present.

Looking through all our cookbooks (including specific chilli cookbooks) most of the recipes tend to be quite samey and tend to be beef/chicken/pork/fish + whatever heat chilli you can stand.

I'm looking for some recipes where the chillis are more the main ingredient and the main flavour - not just a source of heat. Has anyone got any ideas? or are there any other threads I could look at?

For the record I've got

aji limon, guajillo, habanero, piri piri, ring of fire, chipotle, twilight

Apart from the guajillo, they are all smallish and medium to hot.

cheers

R

That is a wide variety for different purposes and recipes. Briefly, aji limon, habanero, and piri piri impart a lot of heat and normally are a background flavor rather than the main ingredient. Chile lovers however would argue that they also have much flavor and can be a used liberally in dishes. For instance, you can stuff the hab with a cheese mixture, bread and deep-fry for poppers. Most people feel that hot chiles overpower the flavor of the dish. I am not one of them and prefer heat and chile flavor to compliment other flavors.

Guajillo can be used, when washed, dehydrated and reconstituted, to be the main flavor in a broth used in pozole (garbanzo bean, pork and chili stew). Chicken can be the base too, as can a vegetarian one. Ajis, habaneros and piripiris are great as main ingredients in sauces or salsas.

Ring of Fire to my knowledge, is not a chile but a commercial hot sauce with the trademark, "So Hot it Burns You Twice!" on the bottle.

Chipotle chiles are mecos, moritas or pasillas de Oaxaca that have been cold-smoked in a particular Mexican style. They are wonderfully smoky and moderately hot. My favorite thing is to cook them in a adobo sauce (see the Mark Miller recipe in the Great Chile Book) and puree it or not, to add to mayo, hummus, ketchup, BBQ sauce or whatever you can think of. You can add some half-n-half and make an excellent enchilada sauce out of the chipotles en adobo. They are also used in recipes to add a smoky heat.

Twilight - you got me, unless it is a Numex ornamental, like the sunrise and sunset.

See Daves chile pages at fiery-foods.com for recipes or use Google. Have fun.

John S.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that Pasilla and ancho chilis are more of a main ingredient than the others. Robert del Grande makes a creamy pasilla sauce to serve with a coffee/cocoa incrusted beef tenderloin--usually with creamy grits. Ancho is the lead chili in my Texas beef chili--neither add much heat, but the flavor---real chili flavor that takes the lead.

Cooking is chemistry, baking is alchemy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got the girlfriend (a complete chilli nut) various bags of dried chillis from a chilli farm as a 'different' type of christmas present.

Looking through all our cookbooks (including specific chilli cookbooks) most of the recipes tend to be quite samey and tend to be beef/chicken/pork/fish + whatever heat chilli you can stand.

I'm looking for some recipes where the chillis are more the main ingredient and the main flavour - not just a source of heat. Has anyone got any ideas? or are there any other threads I could look at?

For the record I've got

aji limon

guajillo

habanero

piri piri

ring of fire

chipotle

twilight

Apart from the guajillo, they are all smallish and medium to hot.

cheers

R

I think you want to find recipes for those chiles that you have, right? Here are three uncommon ones for the guajillo. You could also use additional ajis, habs or piripiri to make these warmer!

Guajillo Shrimp Salad

with Mango Salsa

http://www.flyingvbarandgrill.com/shrimpsalad.htm

Mussels with Saffron, Guajillo Chiles, and Beer

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_13102,00.html

A Medley of Squash, Mushroom, Leek, and Guajillo Chile

http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.cgi?r=833

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You might also enjoy looking at Rick Bayless cookbooks....he uses each distinct type of dried chili to develop a base sauce that is then made unique in a variety of recipes. Its a good approach and it lets you do the time consuming part all at once, leaving you with a great base to play with later with much less effort. It sounds like it may fill the bill for you as he really tries to bring out the nature of each type of chili.

Another book I enjoy is a small book The Great Salsa Book by Mark Miller. He has some very unique salsas that make use of dried chilis, some hot, some not. All very flavorful.

Oil and potatoes both grow underground so french fries may have eventually invented themselves had they not been invented -- J. Esther
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
×
×
  • Create New...