I think most use a cayenne or Jalapeno. I really don't think the taste of the pepper comes through a whole lot with something like Chili unless you dump in a whole lot of pepper. I use powder and it is really hard to get a lot of pepper taste. You just get the heat. You could try a fresh, lower heat pepper and add a lot more. That way you would probably get more "taste" from the pepper itself.

I am assuming you are not nuclear eater that could add two dozen Habaneros to a pound of chili and think it might need more.

You could dice up a bunch of Anaheims or Big Jims and season your chili with those. Maybe stick with some Cayenne powder and dice up a couple sweet bells to throw in for taste. Experiment and see what you come up with.
Bruce

Any of the NuMex varieties (Anaheim, Big Jim, Sandia) are a good addition to chili. I usually add 1 or 2 hotter peppers that have been smoked. Depends entirely how hot you like your chili.
John A

Two reasons to use chiles in chili - one for heat, the other for taste. For heat you can go with any powder or hot pepper.

For taste, as Bruce says, it's hard to let the flavor shine through. I use nice thick-fleshed peps like cubanelle, fat jalapeno, poblano, others recommended above. Not cayenne - very little flesh. Not bells - wrong flavor.

Use lots - they aren't really a source of heat. Seed the pods and cut large - 1/2" dice. Sauté in light oil until the edges start to brown. Add about half way through the cooking, so they don't get cooked down to mush. Enjoy.

You can throw some onion and even carrots into the sauté, but don't overload it. Light browning is the key.

You could also roast the flavoring peppers. I haven't tried that.

For a thin-skinned pepper, about the only way to keep its flavor intact is to add it very late in the cooking process.

Dennis

pasillas were made for chili, gives it a nice rich smoky flavor, not a lot of heat. To add heat and flavor you gotta have guajillos. this person has a good recipe, several varieties of peppers:
http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/2009/02/more-precise-texas-chili-recipe.html

Chili is as personal as barbecue sauce. Many different variations are popular.

My favorite pepper to finely chop into a pot is fatali. Gives your chili a flavor you'll get nowhere else.

For you non heat seekers, let it simmer for several hours.

My absolute favorite type of pepper for chili is the mustard habanero...it is a great blend of heat and flavor that is perfect for chili!

Just a note on robeb's post. Another way for non heat seakers, just put a pod in and leave it whole. I've got a good friend from Trinidad and she says that's how they get all the flavor with minimal heat. But, you have to be careful to keep the pod from opening up.

I might have to try a fatali (and mustard hab) in my chili sometime.

I use a mixture of mild, medium, and hot as well as other spices in my chili.

Alton Brown has a chili powder recipe that I use as a guideline (substituting whatever peppers I have).

Pasilla Bajio, Guajillo, NuMex types, Ancho (or Poblano), some Cayenne for midlle / hot, and some hab type for the hot. Most I use as powder, but, NuMex/poblano I use frozen (roasted before freezing). One of the key (not pepper) ingredients IMO is Cumin. Next year I am going to grow some paprika type peppers specifically for chili (as opposed to the store bought paprika).

Hmmm, I never thought of using my paprikas in chili... thanks for the idea!

YES CUMIN! Must have! Chili, beans, love it!
haha, I heated up a tv dinner last night in the microwave. Opened the door this morning, the smell of cumin wafted out quite strong... made me hungry! one of my favorite herbs!

I don't use a commercial chili powder. They are all different, and it's too hard to control the salt and heat. I would rather add the individual ingredients from scratch.

Cumin is unquestioningly essential, but the other ingredient in 'chili powder' which gives it that classic chili taste is ground ancho pepper. If you've ever had the experience, after adding cumin, of 'Why doesn't my chili taste as authentic as the commercial stuff?' Well, it's the ancho powder - they use a lot of it. Add some to your chili and you will find that familiar taste.

Other ingredients in commercial powders which I like include paprika (usually smoked), garlic powder (I prefer a few crushed cloves), and just a suspicion of cinnamon (go easy on that), and of course salt, which you are going to add to taste anyway. They usually include cayenne, but you can add anything for heat.

Chili without green bells is certainly different from that with. I've seen advocates on both sides. West Texans prefer adding the bells in my experience, but evidently folks from Atlanta don't.

Check the link below to see the ingredients in many spice blends, including several chili powder blends. It's alphabetical, so scroll down to 'Chili Powders'.

!Buen provecho! Rick in VA

Here is a link that might be useful: Spice Mix Ingredients

+1 on the Ancho powder, definitely a key ingredient in most southwest style chilis.
I don't have just one chili recipe, I like to make chili based on what I have on hand. Luckily, that's typically a whole-lotta peppers and spices.
You can get dried ancho peppers in any mexican market, and I've even seen them in some of the bigger grocery chains in NJ and NY. Dried Guajillo and Pusa chiles are never too far away. You can grind the dried pods into powder if you have the equipment, or you can rehydrate and blend as a great base.
For my chili, I usually use turkey (I know, where's the beef?), I use dried peppers (re hydrated and blended), fresh peppers and self made powders for spicing it up and flavor. Cumin is a must, but I will sometimes add cocoa powder, cinnamon, beer, whatever. Own your chili, use a dependable recipe to get you started but make sure to put your own stamp on it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peppermeister's half-baked chili pie

> " West Texans prefer adding the bells in my experience, but evidently folks from Atlanta don't."

Ah, but grasshopper, I'm from El Paso (as west as Texas gets), Austin, and D/FW. Never seen a bell go into a pot of chili. Road kill, yes. Bells, no. Beans, hell no. (Well, black beans are okay for wimmen and chilluns.)

If I have Guiness, I'll soak the seared beef in it before adding the other ingredients. IPA works great, too: the hops seems to accentuate the meat flavor.

BOY!! I wish you'd tell my husband that DMForcier! Since I've been married I'm not allowed to make chili without beans! and he won't even let me use black beans, gotta be pinto! well, yeah, I could tell him to deal with it, then I'd have to hear him whine for a week. ;-) I bet Guiness's new Black Lager would be even better.

and who cares what Atlanta puts in chili? They aren't even close to the southwest! :-)

Thanks everyone for the replies. I will also be growing paprika types next year and will certainly be giving that a go. Smoking some first sounds great as well. And now... to find guajillos and pasillas! Oh, and ancho powder!

My wife liked kidley beans in hers. I would make the pot and heat hers separately with added beans. For some reason the spices don't flavor the beans much so there's very little difference from putting beans in the man [sic] pot.

Here's a kitchen rule: The guy that makes the chili rules what goes into it.

Black Lager is probably not as good for this. Not nearly as hoppy as an IPA, and I don't think it has the depth of the Real Thing (Stout). 'Course, any beer is better than no beer. Even Rolling Rock.

and it probably goes without saying, but a word of warning... dried poblanos (green) aren't nearly as good as when they're ripe/red (anchos). The green ones are on the bitter side in my experience. Learned that one the hard way!

Actually that's probably best, I'm much rather drink the Black Lager. :-)

OK, question. I just got this idea, I either dry, freeze, or pickle my peppers, but I was thinking, I wonder how it would do to make a chile puree and freeze that. Has anyone tried that? AND, when you use fresh chiles, do you want to grill and skin them first or leave the skins on?

but right now ALL of my poblanos are green.. and it's going to drop down to about 30 this weekend. :-(

Puree should work fine! The main problem with freezing whole chiles is that the ice crystals disrupt the cell walls, making them mushy when thawed. With a puree mushy is good. Portioning might be an issue. Freeze in ice cube trays and bag the cubes.

> "AND, when you use fresh chiles, do you want to grill and skin them first or leave the skins on?"

Use them for what? Puree? Could go either way. If you roast with a flamethrower like I do (j/k), the skin is carbonized and that's not good eats. Take off the carbon, at least.

30' is no prob if you cover your plants at night. And I like green poblanos for chiles rellenos anyway.

Yeah, and I discovered that if you freeze poblanos after roasting and peeling, if there is a lot of juice they seem to preserve ok, but if they are dry, they mummify really fast. BLECH!

I'll try that this weekend making puree this weekend.

Sorry about my post, I should have transposed the sentence, should I live the skins on and puree them raw or grill and skin them first. haha, no flamethrower here, hubby won't even let me have a nail gun, I'm too much of a clutz, he says he'll come home to dogs nailed to the walls. :-)

I covered them the first freeze, I think now I'm losing interest. I'm gonna have to start picking peppers and doing something with them soon.

How can you lose interest in your babies !?

I'd try the puree both ways. Think of it as "moderating the amount of work involved". I'd like to know how they puree raw. Poblano has quite a thick skin and you may need to whiz the heck out of them to get the skin cut up.

Would you be using a food processor, food mill (does anyone have those?), or a blender? Food mill would be perfect for the roasted/skinned ones, food processor next. Even a sieve and spoon. Raw I would think would need a long bout in the processor, or [shudder] blenderizing.

If you can't tell, I like a bit of texture in the mash.

OH! I agree. I NEVER strain my homemade tabasco sauce, I like pieces of pepper in mine. I don't have food mill, but have the other 2. I use the blender for powder and making mudslides but the food processor for other things. ;-)

I'll try it both ways and let you know.

Well, I haven't lost interest in the ones in the greenhouse but the ones in the ground are covered in fruit...I'm just not motivated for the work it's going to entail dealing with them. ;-)

I am whipping up a crockpot full of chili tomorrow. I just figured everyone might want to know that.
Bruce

kuvaszlvr:

"but if they are dry, they mummify really fast. BLECH!"

If they're dry, no need to freeze. Just store them like any other spice -- cool, dry, dark place.

Also, it depends on the whole roasting and shinning thing -- some peppers like Anaheims and poblanos have a tough skin so they're almost always better roasted and skinned. Others like serranos, jalapenos, and habs you can just blanch in some oil and then puree and freeze.

But yes, I would say that roasting, skinning, deseeding and pureeing BEFORE the freeze would be best for poblanos and anaheim types.

Kevin

Bruce: :-P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

woohooman, Sorry I meant dry as in no liquid. I blistered the skin and peeled and froze them whole, they were pretty dry, they got real nasty pretty fast. some others, I chopped (after blistering and peeling) and there was quite a bit of liquid and I froze them with the liquid and they didn't get freezer burned like the drier whole ones did.

Weirdest thing. I picked a poblano last week, roasted it and put it in a plastic bag to steam. The skin would not come off. I never had that happen before.
Pam

A drool emoticon? "Clever girl."

Icky, but clever.
---

I've blanched in boiling water. About 1 1/2 - 2 minutes. I wonder what oil does for you. Higher temps to loosen the skin quicker so you don't cook the flesh?

I have also had poblanos that were really hard to peel because the skin was so thin. I guess it depends on the variety or maybe the environment that growing season.

I usually roast, peel, and deseed, chopping them up as part of that process before freezing. I just fill the bags up to where I want them for single recipe use. The ice cube idea is pretty cool though.

DMF:

I blanch(then shock) in water when pickling. But blanching in oil would be like a quick roast. It caramelizes a tad and softens them to be pureed. If roasting, the skin blackens so skinning is required. When blanching in oil, no need to remove skin.

I'm just talking about peppers that don't have that tough skin like the roasters.

One thing i did discover recently though. I ROASTED some anaheims(coated with oil) just enough to NOT get them black, but still get that roasted, intensified flavor. And I was able to puree them without removing the skins and it came out as smooth as if I had de-skinned.

Kevin

I use both dried chile & fresh. Always whole. Dried chiles are rehydrated & pureed. I use Ancho and Guajillo. Fresh Poblanos are available here in NY all year long but this time of year, they are particularly fat =) and can be had without going to an ethnic market.

I do this with Congo, Hatch chile, tomatoes, & eggplant as well when they're available for Chili and chokah. The technique is the same for all but take care with tomatoes, they're juicy & will make a mess on the stove top if you're not careful. My dad does this with congo/habs & garlic. Don't try that inside the house. MUST be done on an open grill outside. Trust. Me. -_- He then rough chops the garlic & pepper, season with salt & pepper & jar. Uses it like pepper sauce on everything.

Roast on open flame till skin is blistered. When it looks ugly & blackened on all sides (top & bottom too) place in a tightly covered bowl.

Allow to cool enough to be handled. Once able to handle, wet hands & peel away skin. Stubborn blackened skin can be removed with a wipe of a paper towel.

Don't wash the peppers, it's tempting, but don't. Once peeled, (use gloves for this step if you're sensitive) slit in half & remove seeds & stem.

I puree my peppers & freeze for adding to chili. I usually portion out by the pint & quart. I've skipped the roasting step & added poblanos to chile...DON'T. The skin is thick just like with Hatch & you end up pieces of skin that separate from the pepper flesh. I find the texture tough & fibrous, not appetizing at all.

I also add a congo or hab to the pot. Whole, not chopped. If you keep the pepper whole, you get the heat, the flavor & a depth that is complex rather than a jab to the jaw. Ancient Trini secret o_-

Antoinette

DMF... BWAHAHA, no, not a drool emoticon, but that's creative. Nope, it's a raspberry emoticon, just very exaggerated since it was tacky for Bruce to rub our faces in his chili. :-)

I hadn't thought of blanching in oil, I've always roasted (other than Pimento de Padrons, and they are wonderful fried in oil).. I might just try that. and, I admit, I never deseed, I use everything but the stem.

"What are some of your favorite chilie peppers to use dry/fresh or smoked for a pot of chili? Which types come close to the store-bought powder mixes, but add a little something different? Thanks Gary"

For me, dried staples are Ancho, Guajillo, Puya, de Arbol. Those combined will make a fine chili or mole. I make a lacto fermented mole from these also that has multple uses, especially as a condiment, seasoning, or BBQ ingredient.

We make New Mexico style chile ... get the roasted NM green chiles from the supermarket.

If I were making red chile, I would use a mix of dried reds, some for heat and some for flavor.

If you rip them open, and press them flat onto a hot skillet (outside!) they get a nice "toasted" flavor.

Here is a link that might be useful: 10 Pound Chile

Pam,

I only deseed the milder(poblanos, anaheims, bells, etc) ones since those seeds aren't going to bring MUCH to the party. Since I use multiple varieties(dry and fresh) of chiles in almost everything, there's plenty of seed heat to be had.

:)

Kevin