Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Anyone know where I can order decent quality Anaheim chile powder?

Anaheim is usually the name used for the unripe version of various Numex peppers, as with poblanos and ancho. I don't often see dried green peppers, but there is a place I have seen them, whole, crushed, and ground - Pendery's. And if it is the red version of Anaheim you want, they are also the best source I know of for pure ground red chili powder. Chimayo, pecos red, and Texas red dog are my favorite light colored powders, like numex. Madera is one I tried, for somebody who didn't like much heat; OK, but not as flavorful as those others.

The reason I want the chile powder is for a cookie recipe I want to make this holiday season. They were in last year's December CC, but apparently, the author has published the recipe elsewhere as well. They are a spicy chocolate cookie with dulce de leche sandwiched in between two of them. CC calls for 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne, but the other recipes call for 1 teaspoon of New Mexico chile powder. The author uses a powder she got from Williams-Sonoma, but it's discontinued. I'd rather use a more interesting mild chili powder that might complement the chocolate rather than cayenne, which really just adds heat.

So, which chile would you use with chocolate? I've only ever used cayenne or aleppo with chocolate.

Ooops

link to recipe

I just got their new catalog today, and checked out their list of ground chiles they have, to see any I have tried looked good for that recipe. It only has 1/2 tsp, so it seems you will want a darker, toasted, more flavorful powder for that. Rancho and jalisco are my favorites of this type, and they are only 1k, so I don't think you will find any heat from this much.

Thanks Dave. I think I'll try the Ranchos.

While I am nervous about contradicting Pepperhead in his own domain, I'll do it anyway: most of the time Anaheims are underripe Chile California ... at least west of the Rockies, they are.

So if you can find Chile California powder, that would suit. http://www.americanspice.com/california-chile-ground/

Back in the 70's, when I started cooking Mexican, California chile was the name of Dried Anaheim pepper - even in Diana Kennedy's books she called for them occasionally, and I would find CA chiles in Casa Moneo, my only source for chiles back then (with no fresh ones even there). Later, the production in NM increased so much, that the name changed pretty much everywhere, as well as countless varieties developing. Now there are so many types out there that Numex has become pretty much a generic term, like cayenne, and the commercial growers ID them by numbers. The "mild Numex" is pretty much what the CA chile was (or is out there!), though you really don't know what you're getting anymore unless they state a type. Just browsing through the Pendery's catalog I noticed that they sell whole California chili pods, as well as Numex pods. The CA is listed as 2-3 heat, and the NM is listed as 3-5, so they are different varieties. Strange they listed these numbers in the paper catalog, but not the website.

Years ago, myspicer.com sold mild, medium, hot, and x-hot whole Numex chiles, so I tried all of them! I made Thai curry paste with them, and it turned out that the mild was the best flavored one (I just had to add heat using Thai peppers). Others must have told them this, too, as the mild is all they carry now, and is probably the standard elsewhere, too.

Dave,

Ah, they're never called New Mexico chiles here -- always Anaheim or California. That makes sense, though, if you think about it.