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Home-grown chili

I know most competetive chili cooks use dry peppers and spices but what fresh peppers and herbs/spices would be best for a bowl of red thats not too hot. I usually use a lot of poblanos and mulatos and a few habs with fresh onions, garlic and herbs and I usually try a verde chili with tomatillos that grow wild in my garden. Anybody got a favorite fresh pepper or herb/spice/veggy that they use? I'm starting to smoke a lot of peppers and some plum tomatoes too, which go well in chili.
 
My favorite chiles for chili are: NewMex, Ancho, Pasilla, De Arbol, Guajillo & Pequin. All freshly ground and used in the right proportion of course. ;-)
 
I forgot about this thread.
This year I have a some varieties in mind that I'm growing including: Ancho/poblano(red), Mulato(brown), Cascabel, Guajillo, Numex reds, Pasilla, jalapenos and serranos. I'm also growing them for my first attempt at moles. I just got my book today "Mole!" by Gwyneth Doland and am anxious for chiles. I'm also trying some new thing including: mexican oregano(growing), Ceylon Cinnamon(Canela or mexican cinnamon) and Epazote(growing). I guess Moles deserves its own thread but chilis and spices can be similar I imagine although I've never had the pleasure of a true Mole. Maybe Oaxaca next year.
 
POTAWIE said:
I forgot about this thread.
This year I have a some varieties in mind that I'm growing including: Ancho/poblano(red), Mulato(brown), Cascabel, Guajillo, Numex reds, Pasilla, jalapenos and serranos. I'm also growing them for my first attempt at moles. I just got my book today "Mole!" by Gwyneth Doland and am anxious for chiles. I'm also trying some new thing including: mexican oregano(growing), Ceylon Cinnamon(Canela or mexican cinnamon) and Epazote(growing). I guess Moles deserves its own thread but chilis and spices can be similar I imagine although I've never had the pleasure of a true Mole. Maybe Oaxaca next year.

Mole.....yuk!!!
I got some mole sauce from a Mexican market in Montreal. The sauce was imported from Mexico.
The mole sauce was terrible! I think mole is an aquired taste.
I'm going back to Mexico (Playa del Carmen)last week of April and first week of May.
I'll try it again there. Maybe I'll change my mind after tasting real fresh mole.
 
I think its like canned chili versus fresh chili and with Mole there are several unique versions. I tried a bottled one called 'Dona Maria' and the ingredients are few and simple compared to any recipe I've seen.
 
POTAWIE said:
I think its like canned chili versus fresh chili and with Mole there are several unique versions. I tried a bottled one called 'Dona Maria' and the ingredients are few and simple compared to any recipe I've seen.

How much meat can you possibly get from a mole? Those suckers are so small, you'd need about a couple hundred of 'em just to make a decent amount of chili.
 
Sickmont said:
How much meat can you possibly get from a mole? Those suckers are so small, you'd need about a couple hundred of 'em just to make a decent amount of chili.
LOL, can't tell if you're joking or not. Mole is a sauce made with chocolate.
 
thehotpepper.com said:
LOL, can't tell if you're joking or not. Mole is a sauce made with chocolate.

Ya, i was joking....when i first read the post, i immediately thought of the garden pests....then i realized that they were refering to the sauce.
 
you were talking about the heat of fresh peppers a little while ago i never realized how much heat you can take out of a pepper.

the other day i was making jalepeno popers and i kinda got out the middle part with the seeds and left alot of the membrane in there for some heat...the wife is a super no hot whatsoever kinda gal so i dug out alot of the membrane and seeds and it was amazing how much heat was taken out of that pepper.
 
bubbaschili said:
the other day i was making jalepeno popers and i kinda got out the middle part with the seeds and left alot of the membrane in there for some heat...the wife is a super no hot whatsoever kinda gal so i dug out alot of the membrane and seeds and it was amazing how much heat was taken out of that pepper.

You know, I pretty much grow Puppy chilies to make poppers for my mother. They're about as close to no heat as you can get without being a sweet pepper.
 
You can also just grow Jalapeno TAM. That I believe is the one the commercial guys use. No heat. There's another jap called False Alarm that might also fill the bill. Not that I ...ahem...have ever tried them...I mean uh...that's just what I heard on 60 Minutes.
 
If you want to stuff something to make a popper but have no heat, Poblanos should do the trick, I would have thought.

But they probably grow bigger on your side of the Atlantic than they do in my back garden...
 
Shooty* said:
If you want to stuff something to make a popper but have no heat, Poblanos should do the trick, I would have thought.

I make poppers out of a lot of different kinds of peppers, it's probably the favorite thing I make from peppers with my friends. I accuse some of them of inviting me to parties in the fall just so I'll bring poppers. So, heat-wise, I make poppers from Puppy and Grenada Seasoning peppers at the mild end up to hottest habaneros. The Puppy plant is prolific and the peppers are very easy to work with; a quick parboil, slice open and flick the seeds out with the thumb, and they're ready to be stuffed. And, even when breaded up, they're bite-sized.


But they probably grow bigger on your side of the Atlantic than they do in my back garden...

Different varieties grow different sizes, I've had them both large and small.
 
Shooty* said:
If you want to stuff something to make a popper but have no heat, Poblanos should do the trick, I would have thought.
.

I thought this for quite a while until I got poblano seed from Johnny's one year and the fruit was picante.

Try chilaca (pasilla is dried chilaca) in chili...it has bite but is not overpowering. Chilaca is also the best in salsa verde, either cooked or fresh.
 
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