/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>9235283
You dont need to roast peppers or add smoky flavor to chili. Its not BBQ. If you do want smoke in your chili, its a different beast, but you could used chipotles, which are smoked when dried.

For each lb of meat I will use 1 bell pepper (or green poblano) as my fresh pepper, and then 3-6 dried large peppers, which is some combination of ancho,guajillo, pasilla or california chilies, whichever I have on hand. Dried peppers can be deseeded (just rip off the tops and shake out the seeds) torn up, then softened in a little bit of stock, water, or just some of your cooked chili, just ladle it into a bowl or right into the blender or food processor. Give it about 5 minutes to soften up, and then whirl it until a paste of luscious chilies. Pour your pureed chilies into your soup.

Something I do, which I learned in Mexico City at VIPS, is make a topping of fried dried chilies such as they serve with sopa de tortilla azteca. The skins of dried chilies can be tough if not toasted, so slice into rings (scissors are fine), and panfry in a little oil. And, serve as a delicious topping for those that want a little heat for each bite. I love fried chilies! I put them on popcorn, even drizzle a little of the rendered chili oil on onions that I add to an omelette in the mornings. Dried anchos are as rich as raisins , and not extremely hot, so you can use as much as you want for chili flavor without numbing your mouth.