Mild and Heating Up -
I realize that 'mild' varies from person to person, but my sense of Mild is like Las Palmas canned green chiles, which I assume are Anaheims. A jalapeno would be waaaay to hot for me. And, my wife likes food even milder than I do.
DEFINITELY STAY AWAY FROM THE CHILE DE ARBOL!!!
If you feel that the Jalapeno is too hot, you'll think the Chile De Arbol is nuclear (which it isn't even close by our standards).
When you mention chili like you find in a chain restaurant, keep in mind that you are talking about the Pacific Northwest. I grew up in Eugene, so I understand where you are coming from. If you ever came to Tucson and ordered something with a red or green chili sauce, I think you'd call it "fiery hot." I just LOVE the Chile Colorado dish down in Mexico, made with Guajillo peppers. In my personal opinion, you can't beat the wonderfully sweet, complex flavor of the Guajillo!...Well, you can with a couple of rare heirlooms, but that's a different story. However, I think you would find the Guajillo to be a bit hot for your taste, and definitely so with your wife! But, I you can find some dried Guajillos in your area (check out your Hispanic grocery stores), you really ought to try them.
I'm going to give you a simple Chile Colorado recipe. I stole...I'm sorry, borrowed this recipe from a Sonoran (Hermosillo) website. I use this recipe so much, because I just LOVE Chile Colorado! (You can use this recipe with any chili):
(translated from Spanish by Google Translate, so don't give me guff about poor English please!)
http://www.elsabordesonora.com/chilecolorado.pdf (includes recipe using powdered chili)
Dried red chiles 20
¼ head of white onion (medium)
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp. oregano
3 tbsp. wheat flour
4 cups water or broth
salt to taste
PREPARATION:
Peppers are cleaned by removing the stem and the excess
seeds, washed and placed in a pan sling.
Add water and salt to cover the peppers
and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes
counted from beginning to boil.
Then, peppers were drained and placed in a
blender, add 2 cups water (or broth
in which meat is used), garlic, onion, and oregano
Blend until well ground. (Photo 3)
Using a fine mesh strainer and a spoon
the strained chile until a fine puree,
removing skins and seeds. (Photos 4 and 5)
* Place in a saucepan and boil for 5 minutes,
stirring with a spoon every time.
* Espesadura .- Some recipes call for mashed
be more consistent and it is customary to
process of "thickening" the prepared flour
as follows:
Separately in a clean, dry skillet put 3
teaspoons of flour and stir over medium heat
constantly until it turns golden. leave
cool. The flour is mixed cold toast with two
cups water or broth.
In a saucepan, pour this mixture, add the puree
of chile and salt to taste. Boil for 5 minutes
Spoon stirring every minute.
This preparation is used in many recipes
typical Sonoran regions mainly
north and the mountains.
The puree (before adding espesadura) can be preserved
preferably in a glass container
the refrigerator.
It can also be packaged with the typical procedure
"conservative", which allows you to store without refrigeration.
