Chili Powder Day

I need to make chili powder for the pie/casserole/whatever Saturday.  I’m down to just one tablespoon of my last batch. The following recipe is based on Alton Brown’s 2004 chili powder recipe.  I’ve changed the varieties of chilies to what I can get here in lil’ ole Cartersville, substituted regular paprika for the virtually unavailable smoked variety, and added onion powder.

I make chili powder the same way I make everything — a little differently each time.

A friend asked me about the recipe for a spaghetti pie I made for home group a few months back, and I was stymied as to my reply.  First, I don’t remember making the thing, and, second, I didn’t use a recipe.

I probably made a sauce from (shh!) canned concentrated crushed tomatoes, some herbs (italian parsley,rosemary, and marjoram) from the little raised bed out front, herbs/spices from the cupboard (oregano, thyme, sage), fresh chopped garlic, a touch of something chile hot (pepper sauce or the like), and something sweet (molasses, honey, sugar, brown sugar — just whatever strikes my fancy while I’m there.)  The protein was whatever we had — usually chicken breast or ground turkey, unless we were being evil that week with beef.

Anyway, that’s the process.  check the cupbord, and make something with that stuff.

Except for bread — any bread.  For bread, I follow the recipe.  My biscuits are getting better, but I wouldn’t put them up against anyone else’s in a competition.

Anyway.  Chili Powder We have in the cupboard today:

Dried Ancho chiles, New Mexico chiles, and chiles Japones.

The Anchos have very little heat, but are packed with flavor.  The taste of dried Ancho is reminiscent of prune, raisin, and red wine (to me, anyway.)

There’s a touch more heat in the New Mexico’s, but not much.  They add a lighter fruit / sweet flavor to the mix.

The Japones put the heat into this powder.  They are not as hot as the De Arbol — the recommended chile for this powder — but they’re what I got, eh?

OK, now.  I take six each of the above named chiles, and remove the stems and (most of) the seeds.  Then with a pair of kitchen shears, I slice the chiles into manageable sized pieces.

There.  The prep work’s done.  Time to get cookin’.  I take half the chopped chiles and cook them in a large skillet at medium-high (7 on my electric stove) with two tablespoons whole cumin.

This cumin happens to be Indian cumin.  I’m not sure where the cumin I usually use comes from.

— NOTE: A quick side trip through google-land tells me that there’s really no difference between my ‘Indian’ cumin and any other cumin. —

Cook this stuff until you can really smell the cumin releasing its essential oils.

Caution!  If you cook this mixture too long, the wonderful essential oils from the chiles will release in force and you will feel a catch in the back of your throat.  If you have a stove-top vent that vents to the outside, go ahead and turn it on.  If you have one of those so-called vents that vents into your kitchen, DO NOT – Repeat – DO NOT turn on that fan.  It will blow that pepper gas right into your face, and your next hour or so will not be happy.

OK. Once the first batch is done, remove it to a bowl to cool and cook the rest of the peppers with another couple of tablespoon of the cumin.

Now, take a short break.  The next step is to grind all the cumin, peppers, and and two tablespoons of oregano in a blender, coffee grinder, or whatever pulverizer you’re happiest with.  But don’t do that until the peppers are cooled to room temperature.

Repeat.  don’t grind the peppers until they have cooled off.  Think pepper spray.  Mace. Tear gas.  Be patient.

When everything’s cool, pour the mix into your grinding apparatus.

It’s up to you, but I chose to pour a glass of Cabernet for the next part of the process.

Then, SEAL the grinder.  You don’t want this explosive dust flying around your house.

Then, grind it until you like the consistency:

Once you like the size of the granules, sit down and wait again.  Wait until the dust inside that appliance settles (again, think mace.)  Enjoy that glass of wine.  Then, when you’ve given the chiles time to settle down, mix in 4 tablespoons of garlic powder, two tablespoons of onion powder, and 2 teaspoons of paprika.

Pour the mix into your favorite storage container,

Cover, and remove to the fridge.

You now have a great starter ingredient for your next chili.

Pour another glass of wine and think about how you’re gonna use your new, home-made chili powder.  And don’t answer the phone from downstairs.