"Northern Heat" Chili Spice Blend

In this day and age of almost universal instant gratification, many people don’t seem to appreciate that back in the day, getting ingredients was not as easy as it is today. Nowadays you can shop online, go to your local hyper market or if you’re talking chili, your local Latino supermarket and you can get whatever. Way back then, you had to improvise.

Following that premise, the creation of chili powder was a boon for home cooks to create the trendy chile con carne in their home kitchens and it seems to date way back in 1894. That my dear chili pepper padawans is when one, Willie Gebhardt, a Texan with Germanic roots used his meat grinder to prepare his own blended chili powder from his stockpile of eye tearing chili peppers. The classic bowl of red has never quite been the same since.

My Northern Heat chili spice blend is used in my Chili con Carne as well as offered on the side for guests to amp up the heat a bit. Utterly devoid of salt this seasoning gets its primary heat and flavor from New Mexican anchos and South American aji amarillo chilis. Don’t feel you need to save it just for chili, use it as you would say, black pepper or hot sauce as a way to liven up any foods!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons ancho chile, ground

• 2 tablespoons aji amarillo chile, ground

• 2 tablespoons smoked paprika, ground

• 2 tablespoons roasted garlic granules

• 2 tablespoons oregano, Mexican

• 1 tablespoon cumin, ground

• 1 tablespoon masa harina

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in small bowl and blend thoroughly.

2. Vacuum pack for storage and use as needed.