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Peppers with natural 'smoky' flavors?

TekDragonTekDragon __BANNED USERS regular
edited February 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
A few months ago I went to my brother's to, among other things, make our favorite dish: chili.

While at his local Wegman's (one of the biggest in the country, near Fairfax VA) we found dried bhut jalaki peppers, otherwise known as 'ghost peppers'. We both love spice and figured we might as well try them in the chili. We were amazed and surprised with the ghost peppers. Not only did they provide the heat we loved, they imparted an intense 'smoky' flavor to the chili.

My GF, while Indian, doesn't enjoy food as hot as me, so the 'ghost peppers' are out of the question for most of our food.

While watching the Food Channel I caught an excerpt where they described ancho peppers (dried pablanos) as being mild-medium with a smoky flavor.

What do you guys think? Anyone here have experience with Ancho peppers or any other peppers that can recommend something that will add a nice smoky flavor to our chili, burgers, and other spicy dishes?

TekDragon on

Posts

  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Maybe this is a little too obvious, but what about chipotles? The smoky flavor is from the smoking, obviously, but they're still great. They're relatively mild and have a great smoky flavor.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited February 2010
    yeah, I don't get why the smokiness needs to be "natural"

    Druhim on
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  • TekDragonTekDragon __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    Haha, I've thought about that. Unfortunately the East Coast is retarded when it comes to chipotles. You can't find the damned things anywhere around here :/

    TekDragon on
  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    TekDragon wrote: »
    Haha, I've thought about that. Unfortunately the East Coast is retarded when it comes to chipotles. You can't find the damned things anywhere around here :/

    Look harder. Lots of specialty stores are out there that sell only hot pepper sauces. Also look online, there are some quality pepper sauces that imbue all the flavor with none of the mess of chopping peppers.

    Robman on
  • BarrakkethBarrakketh Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    It won't add heat, but what about some smoked paprika?

    Also, the internet is a wonderful thing.

    Barrakketh on
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  • RobmanRobman Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    This stuff is holy god damn hot if you add too much, but it's wonderful smoky heat when used in moderation. And by moderation, I mean when you wave it over your concoction like a voodoo charm.

    Robman on
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    Look for canned Chipotles. They even have a smokey sauce.

    Cauld on
  • MetroidZoidMetroidZoid Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    I have a giant hot pepper boner for Anaheim chilies, but I also grow them and eat 'em raw they're so damn good.

    If you could find already roasted Anaheims, they should be fantastic. Also they're not overly hot but have fantastic flavor. Also, second'ing the chipotles because, well, they're a classic.

    MetroidZoid on
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  • TekDragonTekDragon __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    Cauld wrote: »
    Look for canned Chipotles. They even have a smokey sauce.

    I've looked at the 4 closest supermarkets and turned up nothing. I'm going to try calling some places in Annapolis, MD.
    Robman wrote: »
    This stuff is holy god damn hot if you add too much, but it's wonderful smoky heat when used in moderation. And by moderation, I mean when you wave it over your concoction like a voodoo charm.

    Seems like the only ingredient worth mentioning in that is the chipotle peppers. I'll do some calling and see what I can come up with .
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    It won't add heat, but what about some smoked paprika?

    Also, the internet is a wonderful thing.

    $1.68 per OUNCE? That makes lobster look cheap. No thanks.

    TekDragon on
  • TekDragonTekDragon __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    Score!

    http://store.firehousepantrystore.com/4chipgr.html

    And the 1 lb bag isn't that expensive, either.

    Best of all?

    http://store.firehousepantrystore.com/bgbhut.html

    TekDragon on
  • illigillig Registered User regular
    edited February 2010
    chipotles in adobo sauce as mentioned above... i make chipotle mayo with them

    they're guaranteed to be in every supermarket that has a mexican/goya section

    illig on
  • DruhimDruhim Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited February 2010
    TekDragon wrote: »
    Cauld wrote: »
    Look for canned Chipotles. They even have a smokey sauce.

    I've looked at the 4 closest supermarkets and turned up nothing. I'm going to try calling some places in Annapolis, MD.
    Robman wrote: »
    This stuff is holy god damn hot if you add too much, but it's wonderful smoky heat when used in moderation. And by moderation, I mean when you wave it over your concoction like a voodoo charm.

    Seems like the only ingredient worth mentioning in that is the chipotle peppers. I'll do some calling and see what I can come up with .
    Barrakketh wrote: »
    It won't add heat, but what about some smoked paprika?

    Also, the internet is a wonderful thing.

    $1.68 per OUNCE? That makes lobster look cheap. No thanks.

    they're dried, so they're much lighter than they would be naturally
    so $1.68/oz is actually pretty reasonable

    also, you're using them for flavoring
    you're not using them as the main ingredient like you would lobster or steak

    Druhim on
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  • TekDragonTekDragon __BANNED USERS regular
    edited February 2010
    Druhim wrote: »
    they're dried, so they're much lighter than they would be naturally
    so $1.68/oz is actually pretty reasonable

    also, you're using them for flavoring
    you're not using them as the main ingredient like you would lobster or steak

    That's fine, but $1.68/oz is stupid. I just showed a link where you can get them at $0.57/oz, and they're even in powder form. If you want to pay 3 times more, go for it.

    TekDragon on
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