Chili

  Bowl of red chili Total time: About 4 hours Servings: This makes 20 to 24 (1-cup) servings Note: The chili is best made 1 day ahead to allow the flavors time to marry. Achiote paste is available at Latin markets. For a deeper, smoky flavor, roast the dried chilies until aromatic before rehydrating. Dried chiles are available at Mexican markets. 6 ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded 2 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded 3 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded 2 dried chipotle chiles (not packed in adobo sauce)

INDIO -- "I feel like I'm in 'Lawrence of Arabia,' " Anthony Kiedis said Sunday night, not long after Red Hot Chili Peppers had taken the main stage at Coachella for the final headlining performance of the three-day festival. Kiedis was referring to the dust storm that blew up Sunday afternoon and quickly turned the Empire Polo Club into a wind-swept sandbox. But the frontman might also have felt like Lawrence because he was standing before a crowd the size of an army, easily the biggest any one act played to at Coachella.

Three-bean and hominy chili Total time: About 2 hours Servings: This makes 20 to 24 (1-cup) servings Note: The chili is best made 1 day ahead to allow the flavors time to marry. Achiote paste is available at Latin markets. 3 poblano chiles 3 jalapeño chiles 1 to 2 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed, seeded and ground (grind using a coffee grinder, or substitute 1 heaping tablespoon New Mexico chile powder), more as desired 2 tablespoons ground cumin, divided, more as desired 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground oregano, divided, more as desired 1 teaspoon ground coriander, more as desired 1/4 cup oil 3 large onions, diced and divided 1 tablespoon minced garlic 2 teaspoons achiote paste (or ground annato seeds)

Last year the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival used technological trickery to make it look as if Tupac Shakur had been brought back to life. So what do you do for an encore to one of pop music's biggest magic shows? Coachella organizers have turned to reunited Brit-pop act Blur and one of L.A.'s longest-running rock acts in the Red Hot Chili Peppers to anchor its 2013 festival.  Blur will be joined by reunited countrymates the Stone Roses, rock act the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, legend Lou Reed, French pop band Phoenix and Trent Reznor's How to Destroy Angels at the top of the bill for the dual Coachella festivals, set for the weekends of April 12 and April 19 in the desert city of Indio.

"Which wouldja like to try?" booms the smiling guy in the cowboy hat, brandishing a handful of tiny ice cream sampling spoons. Like a magnet, the sweet scent of caramelizing garlic fused with dusky cumin and earthy chili powder pulls you into a minuscule storefront that is Tub's Fine Chili & Fancy Fixin's. In black-rimmed pots behind the ordering counter sit seven chilis to sample.

Dear SOS: I enjoy reading your column, and it occurred to me that you might be able to answer my request. "It was a dark and stormy night," like many we've recently had, when friends and I happened into Smitty's in Pasadena after the theater. Not being Pasadena locals, we didn't realize our good fortune. It was a perfect night for their signature chili and corn bread specials. Not your ground beef variety, the chili seemed to be prepared with flank steak and the corn bread was the best ever.

Like most great chili cooks, Norm Gaul keeps his secrets to himself. After all, Gaul, who was named the World Champion of Chili last weekend by the International Chili Society, has to defend his title at next year's event. The recipe also earned him a new brass chili pot and a check for $25,000. "Yep. I just came back from the bank," Gaul said Tuesday after returning from the competition in Reno. "That was pretty nice."

Windsor Quality Food Co. recalled 676,560 pounds of frozen beef chili after consumers said they found stones or pebbles in some of the product, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The recalled product includes 5- and 20-pound bags of frozen "Whitey's Chili With Beans, Premium, No MSG," which were distributed nationwide. 1,200 Harajuku Lovers Hooded Jackets, made in China and distributed by Jerry Leigh of California Inc. of Van Nuys, are being recalled because the jackets' drawstring through the hood can pose a strangulation hazard to children.

Are you a connoisseur of agony? Then drop by Starry Kitchen for a bite some evening, somewhere around 9 p.m. if you can swing it, and listen to the customers who have been denied a shot at the Singaporean chili crab. They will be muttering imprecations when they think the staff is out of listening range, grinding teeth, staring up at the glittering pastels of the high ceiling as if they expect a unicorn to flutter down from the rafters with a sackful of British Columbia's finest culinary export.

One of the laws of dieting we've long subscribed to is the canceling-out theory: If you eat a salad with a piece of cheesecake, they cancel each other out calorie-wise. Right? We're joking, of course, but a new study finds that some people might actually think there's something to that, even if they're not completely aware of it. Researchers presented 934 participants with various food pairings and asked them to estimate calories. "Vice" foods (cheeseburgers, cheesecake) were sometimes paired with similar "bad" foods, sometimes with "virtue" foods such as salads, and sometimes with foods that were a mixture of virtue and vice, such as low-fat cheesecake.

Two local icons are teaming up to give you free food. How cool is that? Actually, let's hope it'll be really cold Jan. 29, when Dolores Chili ponies up 500 servings of free chili for lunch at Philippe the Original . You can get it with beans, or without and even with onions and cheese, if you ask nicely. Plus, the first 200 people will get a door prize. (Maybe a double-dip for their French dip?) Dolores Chili was founded in 1954 and is famous, or at least locally renowned, for its chili bricks.

Anne Conness is executive chef and partner of Simmzy's and Tin Roof Bistro. The Georgetown University graduate went from working in television to working in kitchens all over L.A.: the Water Grill under Michael Cimarusti, Campanile, Chinois on Main, Saddlepeak Lodge and Alex with Alex Scrimgeour, EM Bistro and Napa Valley Grille. Now Conness brings her take on comfort food, meant to go with lots of craft beer, to Simmzy's in both Manhattan Beach and Long Beach and Tin Roof Bistro in Manhattan Beach.

This week's Culinary SOS request comes from Bonnie Cohn in Hermosa Beach: "I enjoy reading your column, and it occurred to me that you might be able to answer my request. "It was a dark and stormy night," like many we've recently had, when friends and I happened into Smitty's in Pasadena after the theater. Not being Pasadena locals, we didn't realize our good fortune. It was a perfect night for their signature chili and corn bread specials. Not your ground beef variety, the chili seemed to be prepared with flank steak and the corn bread was the best ever.

Dear SOS: I enjoy reading your column, and it occurred to me that you might be able to answer my request. "It was a dark and stormy night," like many we've recently had, when friends and I happened into Smitty's in Pasadena after the theater. Not being Pasadena locals, we didn't realize our good fortune. It was a perfect night for their signature chili and corn bread specials. Not your ground beef variety, the chili seemed to be prepared with flank steak and the corn bread was the best ever.

Whether your tailgate includes a custom grill setup and team color-coordinated tents or a simple picnic on a well-worn blanket, no pre-game ritual is complete without the spread. This is one party that's as much about the food as it is about fans and football. This past weekend, I was in Minneapolis tailgating with friends for the University of Minnesota's homecoming game against the Northwestern Wildcats. We arrived at the parking lot Saturday morning around 8:30 to party before the 11 a.m.  kickoff.

Are you a connoisseur of agony? Then drop by Starry Kitchen for a bite some evening, somewhere around 9 p.m. if you can swing it, and listen to the customers who have been denied a shot at the Singaporean chili crab. They will be muttering imprecations when they think the staff is out of listening range, grinding teeth, staring up at the glittering pastels of the high ceiling as if they expect a unicorn to flutter down from the rafters with a sackful of British Columbia's finest culinary export.

Whether you're buying gifts for a culinary novice or an expert, an ideal present is as close as the nearest bookstore. The Times' Food staff looked at a sampling of the cookbooks released in time for this holiday season and offers the following reviews to assist last-minute shoppers. Some of these books get down to the basics, some deal with ethnic cuisines while still others are as much a feast for the eyes as for the appetite.

Sentencing for the couple convicted in the Wendy's chili finger scheme has been delayed again because of an incomplete probation report. Anna Ayala, 39, and Jaime Plascencia, 43, will return to court Jan. 18 for sentencing. Ayala faces up to 10 years in prison and Plascencia faces up to 13 years behind bars. The pair had been scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.

The company behind Chili's baby back ribs is planning to use pork from better-treated pigs, joining a long list of restaurant chains already doing the same. Brinker International, which owns Chili's, said it will weed so-called gestation crates out of its pork supply. The cramped cages are used to house pregnant sows and have recently been disavowed by food companies including McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King, Costco and more. So far, nine states have banned gestation crates for mother pigs, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

"Hello L.A., my beautiful home, my beautiful home!" The words were heartfelt and unsurprising from Flea (nee Michael Balzary), spoken Sunday with intense passion by the acclaimed bassist at the second of two sold-out nights at Staples Center with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It is all part of the band's life mission, which was never just musical, but also remains an endless celebration of the city and punk-rock scene that birthed them in the early 1980s. PHOTOS: Red Hot Chili Peppers return to Los Angeles FOR THE RECORD: Red Hot Chili Peppers: In the Aug. 14 Calendar section, a review of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' concert at Staples Center said that the band performed "My Friends.