James Silverton wrote:
> I tried a recipe for chilli the other day that used some tomatilloes but
> not much in the way of spices beyond prepared chilli powder and cumin
> It was rather blah even with the addition of a little Tabasco. I had
> made enough for two meals and I cooked the second for half an hour more
> with some oregano, coriander and ancho chile. I not have anchos
> available the previous day but the second attempt was rather good.
>


No idea why the original recipe had tomatillos. :-P I guess the author
thought they sounded more Mexicany than tomatoes.

The essential ingredient is dried red chile peppers, and milder ones
work better than the really hot ones. I like to use a mixture of
guajillo and ancho peppers. Remove the stems and seeds, soak what's
left in hot water until they are soft, then blenderize them with the
soaking water to make a paste and strain out the skins and stray seeds.
The resulting brick-red thin paste is your base. Add meat, onions,
garlic, broth, etc, and simmer about an hour. Spices to use are cumin
and oregano and maybe a little black pepper, but go easy on them because
they can overpower the chili.

HTH,
Bob