I Love It...But...I Hate It Too....

Ahhhhhhhhh....................dried red chile.

My favorite is red enchiladas...mild please..I am a chile wimp!

There is nothing better than homemade red sauce. BUT.....

We are making a product right now that involves HOT dried red chile and I spent the day

coughing, sneezing, my skin burning, eyes burning, well you get the point. The Boy came to see

his Mother yesterday while she was working, and he stayed for all of 5 minutes. He said "I can't stand it here!" He too was doing all of the above. So he left me to suffer alone;)

After a long day.....with HOT chile, the BORDER, the FDA and a patient customer, I returned home. On my kitchen counter sat two bags of dried red chile....MILD....and I thought it

would be a great thing to start some enchilada sauce that I have been wanting to bottle.

And so, I removed the stems and seeds of the dried pods, and put them in a large pan ready to soak. Just then The Farmer decided that going out to dinner was a great idea.

So I washed my hands and we left. While at dinner, my eye began to itch...and I scratched it

do you see where I am going with this? Guess I had a little chile oil on my fingers....which...take a note here...is not removed with soap and water.

I KNOW THIS VERY WELL!!!

But I thought...since it was mild it wouldn't be so painful....wrong!

I went to bed with my nose burning, my eyes watering, my lips burning and I guess during the night, my eye itched again and while asleep I scratched, and yes, the burning in my eye caused me to wake up.

Today, I hate chile....most days I do not.

Here is a crash course on Dried Red Chile...

This is sun dried red chile. It starts as green chile and left on the plant, will become

red and very yummy. Some feel that sun dried is the way to go, when dehydrated, the flavor can change.
It is usually picked while it is still "wet" meaning that it is not crunchy, there
is still a bit of moisture in the chile.


This not an unusual site during red chile season. Chile drying on the roof
of a business or on the roof of a home.

Chile Ristras.....a very common site in New Mexico during red chile season.
Coming next....How to make homemade red chile sauce
(aka enchilada sauce, chile colorado)