On 1/24/2013 9:46 AM, zxcvbob wrote:
> 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
>
The recipe had more tomatoes than tomatilloes. Tomtilloes give an
interesting acid taste and a number of chile recipes try for the same
thing by adding vinegar. The only recipes without tomatoes that I have
tried are for chile verde and I'm not impressed by them.

I like the idea of soaking and blending the peppers and I'll try it next
time. Do you think that broth is needed?

--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not" in Reply To.