Alton Brown’s Homemade Chili Powder

This recipe comes from the Good Eats episode “The Big Chili.”  It’s a phenomenally versatile seasoning that can be used for anything from scrambled eggs to tacos to chili.  It uses dried chiles.  In South Florida, Walmart now sells these in bulk.  So I just get six of each chile (double Alton’s original recipe).

Ingredients:

• 6 Ancho Chiles
• 6 Guajillo or Cascabel Chiles
• 6 Arbol or Japones Chiles (these add a bit of heat, so you could use any dried hot chile, such as dried cayenne)
• 4 tablespoons whole cumin seeds (you can use powder if you can’t find seeds)
• 4 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoon smoked paprika (this can be hard to find at most stores; I found it at Whole Foods.)

Instructions

1. Cut the stem end off each of the chiles, Cut a slit in the side and shake or rub the seeds into the trash.  (You might want to wear gloves if you’re processing a very hot chile.)
2. Cut the chiles into small pieces and place in a heavy skillet over medium heat along with the cumin seeds.  Keep the cumin and chiles moving until they start to smell fragrant.
3. Remove from the heat and place into a blender.  In my experience when working with this double recipe, it’s better to pulse it a few times, and don’t let it go too long.  Otherwise, the blender base will get hot, and the powder at the bottom will form a a cake that prevents the rest of the mixture from becoming blended.  If you have a Vitamix with the dry blade, that would be ideal.  Be very careful about opening the blender as you’re essentially making pepper spray (albeit a mild one).  Don’t put your face in it.
4. Once the chiles and cumin are blended to a powder, add the garlic, oregano, and paprika and pulse to mix.

That’s it.  You’re done.  This stuff is amazing.  And since you’ve been such a good audience, I’m going to give you a couple recipes that use it:

• Mean Mean Pat Chili
• Taco Shredded Chicken
• Shredded Chicken Quesadilla