Episode 2 - Homemade Chile and Chili Powder

Chile Powder

3 Ancho (Red Poblano) chile's, dried

3 Anaheim (California green chile) chile's, dried

3 New Mexico chile's dried

• Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
• Take a knife or kitchen shears and remove the stems of the peppers and split them lengthwise removing any loose seeds with your hand or knife.
• When all of the chiles are prepared, place them on a baking sheet in a single layer and place them in your preheated oven and roast for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the peppers on a plate or another baking sheet and allow them to cool. Leaving them on the hot baking sheet may cause them to burn which will result in a chile powder of poor quality and taste.
• Once the chiles have cooled break them up and place them in a spice grinder or coffee mill and process into a fine powder then store in an airtight container until needed.

Use any chiles you desire to give your chile powder its own unique flavor. Check out the 'Scoville Heat Index' for information on the heat of each individual chile grown. Now that you have your own chile powder, let's look at making our own special blend of chili powder to use in place of the variety of commercial blends you can find on your supermarket shelves.

Chili Powder

4 tablespoons chile powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin seeds

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

1 tablespoon paprika

• Combine dry ingredients into an airtight container and mix thoroughly. Use in dishes that call for chili powder such as chili, tacos, soups and casseroles.

Note: Many commercial chili powders add salt as an ingredient in their chili powders. I do not add salt to my chili powder as this allows me to increase the amount of chili powder in my dish per the recipe or personal preference without overloading the dish with sodium. Instead, I check the flavor of the dish before serving making any adjustments for salt and pepper as necessary.

Mediterranean and Mexican oregano are two different plants with a similar flavor. The most common form of oregano found on supermarket shelves is Mediterranean oregano simply labeled 'oregano'. Mexican oregano is stronger and less sweet making it more suited to the spicy, hot, cumin flavored dishes such as chili, tacos, salsa and other Mexican and TexMex dishes. Either can be used, but I prefer the Mexican oregano for my chili powders. No matter which you use, your homemade chili powder will beat the commercial blends hands down no doubt.