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["Sage Austin | Eureka! Design" <eureka AT hctc.net>]

I think they dry the peppers in the sun, just like tomatoes. I use a 
dehydrator. Definitely not on the bush. They are sort of leathery not 
crumbly when ready.

You will also see chilipequins spelled chilipetin, and many other ways. 
We have a "forest" of them in the understory of our dry creek. I pick 
them when they are red and put them in small jars covered in white 
vinegar and use the vinegar just like you would tobasco or "sport pepper 
sauce" (how it's sold around here--I've never known how the word sport 
works into it) such as on cooked greens or a dash to spice up a soup. I 
will cut 1-3 of them up (fresh) and add it to a dish. They are 10 on the 
Scoville scale (1-10) but I can handle them in a way I cannot handle 
habanero or scotch bonnets, also 10's.

A funny story: One time a friend's mother was visiting. Like me, she 
loved hot food and put her pequins up in vinegar (she reused a caper 
bottle). Her mother insisted on cooking an Italian dish for us. Little 
did we know she would mistake the pequins for capers!--after a while the 
red goes to brown, so they look more similar. We took one bite of the 
stuff and nearly fainted! She had dumped at least 50 of them into the 
pasta! Needless to say, it all went in the compost and we ordered a 
pizza. Ha!

--Sage

Leslie wrote:
> Geez, hot peppers don't make me feel cooler, my head sweats and I have to put 
> an ice cube in my mouth....
>  
> I haven't had too much of the NM dishes,,, the ones I have had I haven't been too impressed with.  But that is 
> only 3 times somewhat local.  I've just been looking up recipes and cooking up at home,,,, but I do wish I
> knew a native Mexican to watch cook a few things, that always seems to be the 
> best way to learn.
>  
> Chilipequin?  About 1/2" long, very tiny?
>  
> Ah,,,,,,,, ok, I have a ton of jalpenos, smoke them over the BBQ grill???  Similar to the description the other
> day?  OK, will give it a try and see what happens.
>  
> Hmmmm, dried jalapenos.......... ok, what's the "how to do" on that?  pick green, or let them dry on the bush?
>  
>  
>  
> Yum! I prefer jalapenos smoked to fresh, and buy them dry as chipotles 
> to add to sauces. I also make sauces from dried chili anchos, which are 
> poblanos when fresh. I stuff jalapenos with cream cheese, batter them 
> with egg and flour, brown them in oil.
>
> We do cook with the locally native chilipequin which is hot but 
> flavorful--could this be the small pepper you saw? We live in the part 
> of Texas where Mexican Food is "TexMex" but I prefer the cooking of New 
> Mexico. In TexMex jalapenos or serranos are chopped fresh with tomatoes 
> for salsa, and gives you what I call "instant burn". A TexMex green 
> sauce is made mostly with tomatillos.
>
> In NM they do not put tomatoes into the sauce, it's all chili molino. 
> This is the same dried red chilies you see in decorative ristras. I make 
> this sauce by browning some of the powdered red chili with flour, then 
> slowly adding water. It's great on enchiladas, eggs, whatever. It gives 
> you what I call "slow burn". A NM green sauce is made with hatch chilies.
>
> Isn't it interesting that the hottest peppers all come from hot 
> climates? Maybe to make us sweat so that we feel cooler in a breeze?
>
> Leslie wrote:
>   
> > Ha !  I just came thru Hatch earlier this week.  Had a very late lunch there 
> > and scoped out the roadside stands selling and grilling chilis.
> >   
> > One of the chilis that was for sale was smaller than an acorn, and the lady advised me do not buy it unless I like really really hot.  
> >   
> > They do roast them in a drum size metal basket that they turn over a fire.
> >   
> > I don't know enough about various Mexican dishes to know which ones to buy.  I do have Jalapenos coming out of my ears as I made a mistake and planted 5 plants ----- which are still producing.... and I have canned enough for 10 years at this point.  I just picked another 20 and am looking for neighbors who want some, no takers so far.......
> >   
> > I've been amazed at how long they stay fresh in the fridge though, and have been using some of them with a breakfast 'taters, green/red/yellow peppers, onions, garlic mix.
> >   
> >   
> > I've heard that hot peppers are good for keeping intestinal worms at bay........
> >   
> >   
> >   
> >   
> > --- On Thu, 8/27/09, Sage Austin | Eureka! Design <eureka AT hctc.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: Sage Austin | Eureka! Design <eureka AT hctc.net>
> > Subject: Re: [Homestead] Skinning chilis
> > To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Date: Thursday, August 27, 2009, 11:48 PM
> >
> >
> > Hatch chilies are the quintessential green chilies used in New Mexican 
> > cooking. They look to be a type of Anaheim pepper, and come in mild, 
> > moderate, and hot. Everyone calls them hatch after Hatch, NM where they 
> > are largely grown. But it's kind of like Coke and Kleenex, we use it 
> > generically even if they came from somewhere else. There's even a canned 
> > hatch version we buy at the store when the fresh ones aren't available. 
> > We buy them fresh, peel and freeze them in bags for future use. The ones 
> > I've grown from seed are 'Espanola Improved' and 'Big Jim Numex'.
> >
> > Yes, a rotisserie basket is what I'm talking about! Leave it to a 
> > vegetarian to forget what those things are called. LOL. The ones in the 
> > stores and restaurants here are huge though, big enough for a whole pig 
> > so to speak. When the chilies come in, they roast zillions of them for 
> > the demand. When I'm busy, I just buy them that way, but you still have 
> > to take the skins off. I use them in enchilada verde sauce and in egg 
> > dishes mostly, but sometimes stuff them like a poblano.
> >
> > :)
> >
> > --Sage
> >
> >
> >
> > EarthNSky wrote:
> >   
> >     
> > > I have no clue as to what a hatch chili might be, but I do think I have
> > > a rotisserie basket somewhere...(as well as one of those silly
> > > composting units<g>)  Luv ya Sage. :)
> > >
> > > Sage Austin | Eureka! Design wrote:
> > >     
> > >     
> > >       
> > > > I let them cool completely, as some of the final roasting happens in 
> > > > the bag. If they are small the cooking sheet will help. Texas gets a 
> > > > lot of hatch chilies from New Mexico this time of year and some of 
> > > > the grocery stores roast them for you over a flame in this basket 
> > > > they can crank around like those silly composting units. So you 
> > > > probably could do them over an outdoor grill as well.
> > > >
> > > > --Sage
> > > >       
> > > >       
> > > >         
> > >     
> > >     
> > >       
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> ________________________________
>
> From: Sage Austin | Eureka! Design <eureka AT hctc.net>
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 12:13:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Skinning chilis
>
>
>
>       
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