Ortega Green Chilis!!

Forgive me if this has already been listed been 114 pages is a lot of reading to do.  No one seems to know what an Ortega Chili is.  I LOVE Mexican food and that is pretty much a staple of any Mexican recipe

Is that the brand Ortega? I'm realtively new to doing my own Mexican cooking, but I've not come across that as a type of chili (and I absolutely loaded up on chilis last time I was in the US....) Either Discovery or the other supermarket "Mexican" brand do jars of jalapenos which I would think would be similar to Ortega branded stuff....

If you're talking about green chiles rather than jalapenos, you're more or less out of luck. I found some (not Ortega brand) once in a fancy food shop in Belfast, £1.99 for a teeny can, and they were nasty. Even the Mexican mail-order places don't really have anything that I've found.

Best solutions I've found are a) import them and b) buy fresh from South Devon Chilli Farm, roast, and freeze. The fresh ones aren't very hot in my experience, but I brought back some powdered Hatch green chile that I'm hoping will help.

I LOVE Mexican food and that is pretty much a staple of any Mexican recipe

I grew up in So Cal, and have never, ever used Ortega chillies in any Mexican recipe I have ever made! 
Ortega, (i think) is just the brand name of tiny chopped up slimy tinned jalapenos.

I would suggest either using fresh ones, or Cool Chile Company sell packets of chopped, dried green jalapenos, and you just soak them in water.  I reckon that would work! 

Morrisons has a new range of food called (I think) Fusions, and I got a small jar of Chipolte Peppers in vinegar. They are smoky and spicy and delish. I have used them mainly to marinate steaks and chicken, they give a really gorgeous flavour and I was so thrilled to find them.

Can't help you with the other chilies though! Sorry.

I grew up in So Cal, and have never, ever used Ortega chillies in any Mexican recipe I have ever made! 
Ortega, (i think) is just the brand name of tiny chopped up slimy tinned jalapenos.

Ditto.

My mom used to get them sometimes, but she was a midwesterner and those purchases were a result of that. When she made SoCal Mexican food, it was using the fresh or dried ones imported from Mexico. (And those are what I've had shipped over here.)

Morrisons has a new range of food called (I think) Fusions, and I got a small jar of Chipolte Peppers in vinegar. They are smoky and spicy and delish. I have used them mainly to marinate steaks and chicken, they give a really gorgeous flavour and I was so thrilled to find them.

Can't help you with the other chilies though! Sorry.

chipotles in adobo!
I buy those all the time at Lupe Pintos or through Mex Grocer!
Will have to check Morrisons... they now have the chipotle paste, so there's hope!

There are several brands of those chopped chiles and they aren't the same as jalapenos. But I've never seen them over here. Your best bet, as suggested, is to start experimenting with fresh and dried chilies.

There are several brands of those chopped chiles and they aren't the same as jalapenos. But I've never seen them over here.

you're right... they're not jalapenos. 

i have a can of them, which i bought because i thought they WERE jalapenos, but when i got them home i realised they weren't.   They're just called 'mild green chiles', which pisses me off, cos i want to know WHAT KIND of chile im eating!

LisaPower - PM me if you want, and i will send you this can.   They're not Ortega brand, (they're La Preferida) but i reckon they're the same :  mild green chiles, roasted and peeled and diced, in a tiny can.

you're right... they're not jalapenos. 

i have a can of them, which i bought because i thought they WERE jalapenos, but when i got them home i realised they weren't.   They're just called 'mild green chiles', which pisses me off, cos i want to know WHAT KIND of chile im eating!

LisaPower - PM me if you want, and i will send you this can.   They're not Ortega brand, (they're La Preferida) but i reckon they're the same :  mild green chiles, roasted and peeled and diced, in a tiny can.

THAT'S the brand I found in Belfast!

They're probably something of the "Hatch"/"New Mexico"/Anaheim variety. Proper Hatch chiles, even canned, are lovely, much better than your boring ol' jalapenos. But the bad sort is pretty icky.

No idea what a 'hatch' chile is, but i like jalapenos... they're hot! 
Are 'hatch' hotter?  If so, i need to investigate...

Must admit, I miss mild green chiles too.  I'm not a big fan of really hot stuff, so I use jalapenos sparingly and diced quite tiny in things like pico de gallo, whereas I would put the mild ones all through a dish. 

We shipped two cases of Hatch green chile here to London.  Hatch, New Mexico is known for their green chile.  We used to go to their Chile festival held each Labor Day weekend and stock up.  This is the time of the year in New Mexico when the chile roasters are out on the street corners and supermarkets.  You buy your fresh chile and have it roasted right there.  Nothing means Fall to me as much as the smell of chiles being roasted.  Once you smell it you can't forget it.
I loved when we used to drive from Arizona to New Mexico.  You could get fresh green chile on your hamburger for 25 cents extra even at Burger King.
I think I'll have some on a hamburger tonight here in London!!!

I'm not sure if I'm reading this right, but are jalapenos not available in the UK?

Because that might be a deal breaker 

I'm not sure if I'm reading this right, but are jalapenos not available in the UK?

Because that might be a deal breaker 

You're not reading it right!   
Yes, we have jalapenos here!