Chilli Cooking

Chipotles
Making your own chipotle chillis (smoked jalapeños)
Start early to allow 6 -7 hours of smoking
1 pound ripe red jalapeño or fresno chillis
10 pounds charcoal briquettes
Wood chips your choice (such as mesquite chunks cut into smaller pieces)

Cover wood chips in water and leave to soak. Mound about one half the briquettes into the charcoal pan and light. Wash the chillis and cut a slit lengthwise in each one from just below the shoulder to about a half inch from the tip. Place the chillis in a single layer (slit side up) on a tray or rack that will fit in the smoker and won't let the chiles fall through. When the briquettes are covered with grey ash, spread out into an even layer (if using a BBQ, spread the briquettes to the side leaving a bare spot in the center). Place some of the soaked smoke chips on the briquettes. Fill the water pan with 2 to 3 inches of water (if using a BBQ, use an aluminium foil pan that will fit in the bare spot in the center of the BBQ) and put in place over (or in the center of) the briquettes. Put smoker or BBQ rack in place, place the container of chiles on the rack over the pan of water, and cover the smoker or BBQ.

The idea is to keep a low-heat, smouldering, smoky fire for several hours. Add briquettes, smoke chips, and sprigs of fresh rosemary as needed to keep generating heat and smoke. After 6 or 7 hours, the chiles have probably absorbed as much smoke as they're going to. They should be a dark, brick-red colour and somewhat wrinkled but, they won't be totally dehydrated to a point where they would keep at room temperature. Remove them from the smoker and finish drying them in a warm oven or a dehydrator if needed.

chipotle tin

Sounds like too much hard work well nip up the shops as chipotles in adobo sauce are available in tins. (adobo sauce being a spicey tomato/slightly garlicky sauce). Bags of chipotles are also widely available to buy, although fairly hot they give a good deep smokiness to a chilli dish. Unfortunately the tins are extremely difficult to find in the UK.


Cooking with Chillis
All the recipes have been tried and tested and most will accommodate the chillis available to you, but shop around, more and more varieties and now becoming available worldwide dried and fresh. Follow the links below to find your desired cuisine or a list of their localised products
Go to Mexican Ingredients Go to Mexican Recipes	Go to Oriental Ingredients Go to Oriental Recipes

Using Chillis First thing, take care when handling fresh or dried chillis as they can burn your skin afterwards, so don't rub your eyes straight after chopping or anywhere else! Fresh chillis can be eaten whole stuffed and deep fried, BBQ'd with cheese or sliced and chopped into a variety of dishes. Dried chillis can be rehydrated and pureed into a variety of sauces and pure chilli powder is available ranging from hot ones down to a very mild smokey powder which adds a great flavour to any dish. beware of some powders with the recent health scares of companies adding red dye to improve their appearances, if in doubt use fresh dried or flakes.

Roasting Chillis Getting more flavour from your chillis In order to fully enjoy the flavour of your chillis, it is necessary to roast the them and remove the skin. First, pierce the chile with a sharp knife or fork so that steam will be able to escape from the chile while you are roasting it. Then, place the chillis on a tray under the grill, where they should cook until black and blistered. Be sure to turn them often. When blistered wrap the cooked chillis in a damp towel or place in a plastic bag and let them cool enough to handle. Finally, when the chillis are cool enough, peel them and then they can be kept refrigerated for a couple of days. For long term storage, freeze in resealable plastic freezer bags, and pull them out whenever needed. Dried chillis should be bought when they are supple like raisins and then kept dry, sealed in a container preferably refrigerated. Roasting dried chillis also greatly enhances their own flavour in many dishes, to roast one puncture the skin and place in a moderate oven for a few minutes, don't over do it. Rehydration of Dried Chillis Cool and place chillis in a heat proof bowl, pour near boiling water over them. Cover, making sure that they aren't floating, soak for approximately 20 to 30 minutes until softened. Reserve the soaking liquid as it can be used as a thinning agent or pureed with the pods. After soaking; Remove stems, scars, seeds and membranes Puree the smoother medium skinned chillis and use in sauces, soups and stews Puree, stuff, and shread wrinkly thin skinned chillis and use in just about everything, Larger ones can still be stuffed and baked or deep fried. Try shreading some of the milder ones and topping off salads or pizzas or little toast snacks.

Chipotles Making your own chipotle chillis (smoked jalapeños) Start early to allow 6 -7 hours of smoking 1 pound ripe red jalapeño or fresno chillis 10 pounds charcoal briquettes Wood chips your choice (such as mesquite chunks cut into smaller pieces) Cover wood chips in water and leave to soak. Mound about one half the briquettes into the charcoal pan and light. Wash the chillis and cut a slit lengthwise in each one from just below the shoulder to about a half inch from the tip. Place the chillis in a single layer (slit side up) on a tray or rack that will fit in the smoker and won't let the chiles fall through. When the briquettes are covered with grey ash, spread out into an even layer (if using a BBQ, spread the briquettes to the side leaving a bare spot in the center). Place some of the soaked smoke chips on the briquettes. Fill the water pan with 2 to 3 inches of water (if using a BBQ, use an aluminium foil pan that will fit in the bare spot in the center of the BBQ) and put in place over (or in the center of) the briquettes. Put smoker or BBQ rack in place, place the container of chiles on the rack over the pan of water, and cover the smoker or BBQ. The idea is to keep a low-heat, smouldering, smoky fire for several hours. Add briquettes, smoke chips, and sprigs of fresh rosemary as needed to keep generating heat and smoke. After 6 or 7 hours, the chiles have probably absorbed as much smoke as they're going to. They should be a dark, brick-red colour and somewhat wrinkled but, they won't be totally dehydrated to a point where they would keep at room temperature. Remove them from the smoker and finish drying them in a warm oven or a dehydrator if needed. Sounds like too much hard work well nip up the shops as chipotles in adobo sauce are available in tins. (adobo sauce being a spicey tomato/slightly garlicky sauce). Bags of chipotles are also widely available to buy, although fairly hot they give a good deep smokiness to a chilli dish. Unfortunately the tins are extremely difficult to find in the UK.