The Variety of Life



"Spice is the variety of life," read a slogan used by Spice Islands some 30 years ago. Back in those days Spice Islands offered not only the best spices and herbs you could find outside of a major city, but the widest variety. I bought Spice Island products at Pier 1 Imports because anything that fancy was regarded as a specialty gourmet item and the supermarkets offered only McCormick or French's and their house brand. These days I get most of my dried herbs and spices online from Penzey's -- although a new spice shop has just opened up here in town that I need to check out.

As a rule, I'm not fond of premixed spice or herb blends, with the exception of Fines Herbes and Herbes de Provence. I prefer the control adding herbs and spices one at a time gives me. But there are two exceptions to that preference. One is my barbeque rub and the other is chile powder.

Note, I wrote "chile" powder and not "chili" powder.

The distinction is that chili powder, which is that red stuff sold jars, contains not only powdered chiles, but also other things such as cumin, sugar, powdered garlic, powdered onion and so on. I prefer to add those flavors myself in the amounts that seem good to me at the time. The other problem with the commercial mixes is that I really like chipotle (smoked jalapenos) in my chile powder. About two years ago I started making my own chile powder and after some tweaking and twitching, settled on a simple mixture that I like.

Last night was the first genuinely cold night this fall. A big pot of chili and some cornbread seemed like the perfect meal so I made up a fresh batch of chile powder. The Chipotles provide most of the heat and a wonderful smokiness. The dried Pasilla and Ancho chiles provide a rich fruity flavor. I keep the basic mix fairly mild so I can use it for my clients who don't like much heat and add cayenne pepper separately to spice it up for myself and the clients who do like heat.

Chile Powder
2 ea Ancho chiles
3 ea Pasillo chiles
2 ea Chipotle chiles

Stem chiles and break them up. Then process them in one or two batches in a spice mill or coffee grinder. This makes 1/2 - 2/3 of a cup.

Chili
2 strips salt pork
2 lb chuck -- cut into 1/2" cubes
salt and black pepper
1 ea onion -- diced
1/2 ea green bell pepper -- diced
1 ea Anaheim chile -- minced
1 ea Jalapeno chile -- minced
1 1/2 tbsp chile powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1/2 btl dark beer
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can chopped mild green chiles, small
1 can corn, small
1 can kidney beans, 15 oz -- drained
1 can diced tomatoes, 15 oz
1 tbsp vinegar.
2 tbsp corn meal

Season chuck with salt and pepper.

Render fat from salt pork in a dutch oven over low heat. Set salt pork aside. Increase heat to medium-high and brown chuck in three batches in the pork fat (you may need to add a bit of oil to finish the job).

After removing last batch of meat from the dutch oven, reduce heat to medium-low and the onions, bell pepper, fresh chiles, chile powder, and cumin and sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cook until you smell the garlic. Add beer and deglaze pot, reducing beer by half.

Chop up the salt pork and toss it into the pot. Add all remaining ingredients except the corn meal. You may need to add some water or beef stock as well, enough to just cover everything. Increase heat to high and bring to the boiling point. Immediately reduce heat to low and cover pot, leaving a small gap. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. Taste and adjust seasonings. Sprinkle corn meal over chili, stir in and cook another two or three minutes to thicken.

For more articles on favorite spice and herb blends, check out The Spice is Right at Habeus Brulle.

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