Barbara bought dried red chili pods from www.newmexicanconnection.com (medium and hot) and then brought them to our house to process them. They deseeded the pods, soaked them, blended with water, and strained the skin to create the concentrate. When I saw that they had to wear rubber gloves for protection, I knew they were using the real stuff! We used to buy frozen Bueno Chili and bring it home from Gilbert, AZ in coolers, but this stuff was much hotter (and better) like her family had in Albuquerque, NM. Sandy’s deceased brother George and I only liked the “hot stuff”.

They had 4 bags of the dried peppers, which produced about 60 cups of concentrated chili. We put it into 2 cup plastic containers and froze all but enough to eat for the next few days. It is lots of work, but worth it in the end. Be sure to do this in a well ventilated area!

I eat the chili (mixed with turkey) over baked potato with beans, cheese and lettuce. Everyone else uses hamburger and tortillas. “Raw” chili is so much better than the stuff in jars. We never had this stuff in Iowa! One of these days, we will have to try mixing the chili into turkey meat loaf for flavoring. Mmmm

You can also buy Sopaipilla mix from this website. Instructions for both chili pepper processing and sopaipilla are included.

“The journey is the reward.” – Buddha