Green Chile Lovin'!
We love green chiles around here. And I mean looooove! Chile Relleno, Chile Verde, Salsa Verde, green chiles and eggs, green chile mac and cheese, added to soups, stews, and sauces, nachos, or green chile cheeseburgers, ...well, I could go on and on!
Each year on Labor Day weekend they have a wonderful celebration in Hatch, New Mexico, the Hatch Valley Chile Festival. And despite the drought conditions, this year was no exception. One of these years I am going to go, but until then, I'll just have to be satisfied with roasting fresh Hatch green chiles here at home. (And this method works well for other varieties of chiles, too.)
Now you might think, given the intense heat here in southwest Oklahoma last week, that I could just lay them on the patio and they'd burn to a crisp. Alas, not so. And it was too hot to roast them on the grill. And I'm not lucky enough to have a handy, dandy chile roaster. So I did the next best thing and roasted them in the oven. It works just as well but I do sorta miss the smoky charcoal flavor.
Method
First, wash and dry your green chiles. Move your oven rack to the top and preheat your broiler. Line a sheet cake pan with foil. Lay your chiles on the foil and place under the broiler. Shut the door and let them broil, checking periodically for browning and charring. While I don't time this process it takes about 10 minutes or so under my broiler, then I just turn them and do the other sides until they are charred all around.
Once they are nicely charred, remove from the oven and place in a zip-loc bag and seal. Let them steam about 20 minutes. This softens the outside and allows the charred skin to loosen and peel right off. Discard the skins.
Now split them and scrape out the seeds. You can leave the seeds if you want, but unless they are pureed I find them to be hard little things to chew! Naturally you can't get all of them anyway, so a few won't hurt anything.
At this point you can use them, or freeze them for future use. I generally do both. The day I roasted these I made chicken and green chile enchiladas. The next morning I added chopped green chiles and monterey jack cheese to an egg dish. So good!
Luckily, we're close enough to New Mexico to get fresh Hatch Green Chiles at some of our local grocery stores. You can also order them online from various growers. Our lucky friends in El Paso and Las Cruces take advantage of the locally roasted green chiles. Apparently you can purchase them just about anywhere, from street vendors, to road side stands, to grocery store parking lots! So jealous!
You can find a few yummy recipes here and here. And here's how the Blue Mesa Grill in Texas dishes it up...Hatch Cheese Bites anyone? Steak Relleno Tacos? Green Chile Potato Tart? Oh yeah! Good stuff!
A few years ago my eldest son and I took a road trip which took us to Santa Fe and northern New Mexico.
Perhaps next year we'll make it to Hatch. I'll let you know in time to place your order! How do you use green chiles? If you have any great green chile recipes I'd love to have them!
Each year on Labor Day weekend they have a wonderful celebration in Hatch, New Mexico, the Hatch Valley Chile Festival. And despite the drought conditions, this year was no exception. One of these years I am going to go, but until then, I'll just have to be satisfied with roasting fresh Hatch green chiles here at home. (And this method works well for other varieties of chiles, too.)
Now you might think, given the intense heat here in southwest Oklahoma last week, that I could just lay them on the patio and they'd burn to a crisp. Alas, not so. And it was too hot to roast them on the grill. And I'm not lucky enough to have a handy, dandy chile roaster. So I did the next best thing and roasted them in the oven. It works just as well but I do sorta miss the smoky charcoal flavor.
Method
First, wash and dry your green chiles. Move your oven rack to the top and preheat your broiler. Line a sheet cake pan with foil. Lay your chiles on the foil and place under the broiler. Shut the door and let them broil, checking periodically for browning and charring. While I don't time this process it takes about 10 minutes or so under my broiler, then I just turn them and do the other sides until they are charred all around.
Once they are nicely charred, remove from the oven and place in a zip-loc bag and seal. Let them steam about 20 minutes. This softens the outside and allows the charred skin to loosen and peel right off. Discard the skins.
Now split them and scrape out the seeds. You can leave the seeds if you want, but unless they are pureed I find them to be hard little things to chew! Naturally you can't get all of them anyway, so a few won't hurt anything.
At this point you can use them, or freeze them for future use. I generally do both. The day I roasted these I made chicken and green chile enchiladas. The next morning I added chopped green chiles and monterey jack cheese to an egg dish. So good!
Luckily, we're close enough to New Mexico to get fresh Hatch Green Chiles at some of our local grocery stores. You can also order them online from various growers. Our lucky friends in El Paso and Las Cruces take advantage of the locally roasted green chiles. Apparently you can purchase them just about anywhere, from street vendors, to road side stands, to grocery store parking lots! So jealous!
You can find a few yummy recipes here and here. And here's how the Blue Mesa Grill in Texas dishes it up...Hatch Cheese Bites anyone? Steak Relleno Tacos? Green Chile Potato Tart? Oh yeah! Good stuff!
A few years ago my eldest son and I took a road trip which took us to Santa Fe and northern New Mexico.
Perhaps next year we'll make it to Hatch. I'll let you know in time to place your order! How do you use green chiles? If you have any great green chile recipes I'd love to have them!
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