Dried pepper extravaganza

[Mosca]

It’s tough to get good dried peppers at a decent price here in the small towns of the Northeast. What I can find are limited, or expensive, or brittle and past their prime, or all three.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079Y643NP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_94KMMEANGHKPZTAPWAZX

I ordered these from Amazon. I have to say, I’m impressed! They came vac-packed inside of another sealed bag, still nice and leathery, and at $1.32/oz beat the lowest local price of $2/oz.

[Steve B]

That’s too bad you don’t have much to choose from by you. There’s a Mexican food mart in my town that has a huge variety of dried peppers. Everything I’ve gotten so far has been great.

[Mosca]

We have half a dozen or so small grocerias, but I’ve been disappointed so far. One of them had incredible variety, but everything was pretty old. I don’t mind paying more to keep the economy local, but the product has to deliver.

[Troutman]

Tough to get some of those peppers period, and I live in Pepper Town. Waiting to see what you do with them, lots of possibilities.

[Mosca]

Yep. I toasted them, making sure there was just heat and no wisp of smoke, then soaked them for about 20 minutes. I’m doing basic Rick Bayless sauces right now; I am teaching myself techniques, and learning about combining flavors. It helps that I love the heat. I want to make a salsa with arbols and guajillos, and another with arbols and Hatch, to taste the difference. But I want to get it correct before that.

[barelfly]

Mosca Soaked or steeped? If they are fairly dry, steep them and I think you will get more pliable chiles. Not sure how much it will change the flavor, but the thing with red chile is cooking the bitterness out. So maybe it helps a bit if you have to use similar in the future.

[Mosca]

barelfly I wrote soaked, but it’s steeped. I’m at level 101 on this. I’m following Rick Bayless’s simple recipe here. The #1 thing I’m trying to avoid is overtoasting the chiles. But mine were so dry, it was like working with autumn leaves.

https://youtu.be/Y4g2DO_CFBU?si=xSq4CAa0xI-rkj3z

[texastweeter]

I have jars and vac bags galore of chilies. Most that we grew. I can't imagine being without.

[MsTwiggy]

Reminds me I need to make a batch of harissa. 🔥🔥🐿️

[fzxdoc]

MsTwiggy , when you get that new batch of harissa made, you might be interested in this "double harissa" recipe. It's next up in my bean cooking batter's box.

I may use the IP rather than the Crock Pot though.

If using the Crock Pot, the only thing I'll do differently is of course (for food safety sake) to give the beans a good hard boil for at least 10 minutes, then drain and rinse them before adding them to the Crock Pot (to get rid of the lectin). (FWIW, The recommendation is to boil beans in fresh water for at least 30 minutes. Note: The toxin is destroyed when boiled at 212ºF for 10 minutes, but scientists recommend 30 minutes to be certain the beans reach the proper temperature for the amount of time necessary.)

Enough blabbity-blah. Here's the recipe. Lots of great flavors in there.

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/harissa-white-bean-stew-turmeric-yogurt

Kathryn

[MsTwiggy]

Yeah These would be great with ribs and cornbread!! 🔥🔥🐿️

[fzxdoc]

What a great collection! Fortunately for me, there is a nice Mexican tienda in our little town, and their dried peppers are in good shape. Let us know which salsa appeals the most, as you work your way through Rick's recipes. Sounds like a fun endeavor.

Kathryn

[barelfly]

That’s a great collection of chile! I’ve had a selection like similar to that in my amazon list in the event I can’t find them locally. Luckily enough, there’s a Mercado a few miles away that sells them, although, the last time I purchased they were at the end of the baskets and a little brittle.

But fun to use and make various flavor combinations. I’ve mentioned this book before, and I know you are working through Rick Bayless recipes, but Alex Stupak has a wonderful book called “Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook” that discusses his time in Mexico traveling to understand tacos and the various ingredients used in different regions. The chiles you have above are all used in various ways in his book (at least 5 of the 6 - not sure on cascabel). But it’s a great book that has other ideas for tacos as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Tacos-Recipes-Provocations-Alex-Stupak/dp/0553447297

regardless - have fun with those chiles! Raw salsa, roasted salsa, all kinds of stuff! If you want a recipe or two to try out from the book, let me know and let me know what type of chiles you would want to use and I’ll send a few.

[fzxdoc]

I think those are cascabel peppers. I read "escabel" the first time too, and couldn't figure out what those looked like.

K.

[Mosca]

Hehe… I downloaded that book the last time you mentioned it, and actually read the salsa chapter last week! There are some unfamiliar ingredients, but nothing I won’t be able to handle as I learn more. Bayless’s stuff is really simple, but that is to my advantage; if I overtoast half an ounce of arbols, I’m out 35¢. So learning might be time consuming, but it won’t be expensive. Technique first, n’at, y’know.

[barelfly]

Also, with three of those chiles you have, one of my favorites to make is adobo. So many different things you can make with adobo that is based on the ancho, guajillo and morita. Birria, al pastor and barbacoa. The book you downloaded has the adobo sauce recipe. It’s outstanding!

Then paired with what you are doing on the salsas. I’m excited to see what you come up with - if you can’t tell