Most importantly, Uke, don’t forget to italicize jalapeño.
Nup. No water added, just what was needed to puree the chiles. The bottle of ale went into the pot instead. I decided to drink the cold coffee, though.
Simmering now. Ukulele Lady said “there’s so much god damn chile in that pot that I can feel it in the back of my throat!” Chimayos shouldn’t be TOO hot, should they? Also used the two tblsp of ground ancho, but not the chilpotle. I’ll taste in a couple of hours and see if the additional heat is necessary.
They don’t appeal to my aesthetics. The kidney beans look prettier in the bowl.
I’m not nuts about black beans in general…the family likes me to use them in frijoles refritos and frijoles borrachos, but at least half the time I use pintos instead and tell 'em I forgot.
You’re overlooking one huge, terrible, inescapable fact, Ike:
Good chili, by definition, is not made in Brooklyn.
I think you chemists are missing the point of soaking/simmering the chiles in water. The chile cook is not trying to dilute the taste of the chiles or reduce the burning; as Uke said, these aren’t super hot chiles.
The point of soaking the dried chiles is to make them soft and edible. In their dried state, they’re about as edible as paper. When you soak them, they reconstitute.
Soaked dried chiles that are then pureed in a bit of the soaking water is the base for a great deal of Mexican sauces. If you don’t believe me, go pick up one of Rick Bayless’s books and browse through the sauce chapters. Almost every type of essential sauce starts with chiles reconstituted in water.
Well, I wasn’t trying to suggest that he dilute the flavor (although looking over my post, I can see how you would interpret me that way), but rather, extract the oils such that more of the flavor molecules would be out in solution where they could be tasted
I did not know this, and it seems to me that pureeing them would have a similar effect as heating them in oil in that more of the tastants will be liberated into the chili. Objection retracted.
IANAChemist, but sure, I get that he’s reconstituting them. I was just noting that cooking them in water isn’t going to extract as much of their flavor as oil due to the solubility difference that nameless mentioned. Rick Bayless rocks as a chef, IMO, but he emotes to an annoying degree on his shows. I keep expecting him to crawl out of my television and start rubbing my chest with tamales, or something.
See, now, there’s your problem. Kidney beans look like…well, KIDNEYS!!!
BLEURG!!! (How do you cook kidneys? Boil the piss out of them!). Man, if you think kidneys look “prettier,” then there’s no help for you. Did I mention I have a “big bean” prejudice?
Okay, then.
Hope the chili was good, though, however you fucked it up. 
It’s not that steak is too good–it’s that steak doesn’t fare well with that type of cooking, i.e. long, slow, and wet. You want a chunk of stewing meat–something with a lot of collagen in it from a muscley part of the animal. In cows, this would be stuff like chuck, pot roast, brisket. In pigs, we’re looking at Boston butt.
I agree that masa is a great thickener. The corny earthiness of it complements the chili nicely.
But it’s a totally different flavor. Dried chiles fried in oil are different than reconstituted chiles. That’s why many Mexican recipes will have a combination of powdered chiles and soaked & pureed chiles. It’s a very different taste experience.
The other danger about frying whole pods of chiles is that you risk burning them, and releasing a bitter harshness. My general rule is to use powdered chiles (including paprika) and hot pepper flakes by adding them directly to oil, but taking the pan off the burner until I add something with a decent water content, like meat or veggies, that will keep it from scorching. Dried whole chile pods I generally reconstitute (except in Asian cooking).
There is nothing wrong with adding water or any liquids to chili. As long as you first dissolve your essential oils from your powdered chiles in a fat (for me, preferably lard, or vegetable oil), you’re fine with adding water. This technique also makes the basis for most of Hungarian cooking. You start with onions and fat, then add paprika, then your meats, veggies, and any necessary liquids.
Simmered for six hours, rested for one.
Needs salt. Needs more black pepper. Needs more pizazz.
Two teaspoons ground chilpotle! One teaspoon crushed red pepper! Another dash of cumin! More oregano!
Beans in. Heat back on.
Screw it, I’m putting in a bay leaf, too.
Cayenne. Use with care.
Or tabasco. A little more liquid wouldn’t hurt.
I like Tabasco, but not in red chile stew!!
And I would use pork instead of steak.
Re. below… these are dried red chile pods. They are meant to be simmered and then pureed. It is what everyone in New Mexico does and has done for centuries.
Now if these were fresh red or green chiles, he would roast them in the oven (or on a grill), skin them, chop them up and put them in the stew.
One would not fry these chiles, unless they are breading them to make rellenos, maybe.]
And masa is not necessary in red chile stew.
Did anyone else mis-read the title of this thread as “Child-making time! Criticism welcome!” and think of all sorts of mean-spirited jokes to make?
Anyone?
Okay, okay, I’m leaving.
Ooook. Where are you, North Carolina?
Pork is okay in Chile Verde, I spose, but inna bowla RED?
I already made two children, and I regret every minute of it (except the parts right at the beginning, those were pretty much okay). Leave, already.
Maybe not in a bowl of Texas red, but, then again, most of the recipes here would be considered sacrilege in Texas.
Personally, I like pork in my chili. There’s a Mexican chili called carne con chile colorado, (meat with red chiles) and in Zarela’s Mexican cookbook, it’s made with cubed pork.
My favorite chile recipes are the simple ones with minimal ingredients, like Zarela’s pork chile or Texas red.