Finally, It's Chilly/Chile/Chili Weather
Looked like we were going to escape wintery temperatures here in the mountains this season. Not a chance. Winter is chili time for me, largely thanks to my stint in Albuquerque. Anyone traveling in the southwest has seen the ristras of chiles used for decoration.
Originally, of course, this was the method of preserving the chile for the oncoming winter.
Jane Butel tells the tale that a southwestern family had to put up ristras equal to the height of each family member to have enough to last until the new crop. Charming. She also said they were the primary source of vitamin C for the southwestern peoples. Perhaps. Probably? A green chili pod can contain six times the C as an orange. However, as the green turns to red the C content diminishes dramatically. However, however, the vitamin A content grows to more than that of a carrot as the pods darken. They also contain high amounts of B1,2,3, and E.
So as a primary source of vitamins the chiles would stave off scurvy (vitamin C deficiency page here is short and sweet) nyctalopia/night blindness (vitamin A deficiency the ancients treated by eating liver. Case study here:) beriberi (thiamin/B1 deficiency) pellagra (niacin/B3 deficiency )
Ugly as homemade soup.
Green chiles must be canned/jarred/frozen. Best frozen. That green mess above is forty pods, or what I call one batch of stew.
In the fall the chile men come to Albuquerque. In parking lots all around the city they set their propane heated roasters. You choose the chiles fresh and they roast them on the spot. Large swathes of the city would smell like roasted chile.
Now I have to have the chile shipped. Two cases lasts one year. And I have to do the roasting myself. On the grill outside. Very important point. I once had a couple bushels roasting in all three ovens in the house at the same time. It didn't end well.
Here is how I make green chile stew:
2 lbs pork, skip the lean, lean cuts, save the bones, cube the meat
flour sufficient for dredging
bacon fat for browning, because, of course bacon fat
1 medium onion chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped, minimum. Try 2 cans of the fire roasted variety.
1/4 tsp smoked cumin, ground
1/2 tsp oregano. A little oregano goes a long way.
20 green chiles, or there abouts, roasted, peeled, and chopped.
Take any bones, cover with water, and high simmer/low boil them to a broth, skimming any froth.
Coat the pork in flour. Lightly. Brown in fat. Brown means brown; not black nor tan.
Cook onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
Add tomatoes, cumin and oregano. Stir it up to combine.
Cover, simmer one hour. If you don't know the difference between simmer and boil, unhappiness will ensue.
Stir occasionally. If it is sticking, stir in some of the hot broth.
At one hour taste and adjust seasoning. Possibly add salt. Be careful.
Add and mix in green chiles. Continue simmer for forty-five more minutes.
Serve with grated cheese. Sour cream. Tortillas.
I make double batches. Freeze it. Always seems to taste better from the freezer.
I've seen recipes using canned chiles and even Rotel.
Ain't cutting it.
I've tried canned chiles in stew.
I'll go without first.
C
When purchasing a vitamin C supplement, I look for both mixed ascorbates (multiple types of vitamin C) and buffering. Vitamin C is ascorbic acid. It can, and at high enough dose will, burn your stomach. Hence the buffering.
I prefer a mixed, buffered, ascorbate powder. One that dissolves readily. Some dissolve poorly and you have a gritty slurry to drink. With a powder I am able to adjust the amount of vitamin C I ingest. With buffering I can ingest up to bowel tolerance.
Pellagra bonus:
Straightforward: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellagra
And saving you a trip to a prepper site:
"It was eventually discovered that the Native Americans learned long ago to add alkali—in the form of wood ashes among North Americans and lime (calcium carbonate) among South and Central Americans—to corn meal. This liberates the B-vitamin niacin, the lack of which was the underlying cause of the condition known as pellagra. This is known as Nixtamalization."
Attribution. Fascinating. The subtle unintentional revenge of the conquered.
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