Chile Class with Rick Bayless

Roast a poblano by turning it over a flame until evenly charred all over.

Once cooled, slip the blackened skin off. Tear the chile open, pull out the seed pod, and rinse briefly to remove stray seeds and skin.

Variation: in a restaurant, blister the skin in a deep fryer to barely cook the flesh, then peel and clean the same way.

To clean a dried chile, tear off the stem, open the chile and dump out the seeds; for the 'Mexican grandmother touch', remove the veins too.

Oil toasting: with a thin skim of oil in the bottom of a pot over moderate heat, toast the chile a couple of seconds until it turns lighter brown and blisters. A very thorough toast, often used for mole.

Dry toasting: press the chile flat with a spatula in a dry heated skillet until it turns lighter, flip and press again until it blisters. Look for blistering, not darkness.

Next, soak the toasted chiles in water, puree them and cook the puree down; covered in a separate class.

To reduce heat in a fresh chile, cut it open and remove the whole vein and the seed pod, where the capsaicin is; the seeds themselves carry almost none.