They are back; New Hatch New Mexico Green Chiles. These are the gold standard of the long green chiles. Anaheim chiles are nice but are only a distant cousin of the king of peppers. This time of year supermarkets are receiving their limited allotment of peppers from New Mexico. We always take advantage of this short window of pepper opportunity. Raley’s in Alameda had our peppers and a roaster to toast the skins with fire. It is a good idea to roast the pepper. The skins are fairly thick and the roasting makes for easy skin removal. The roasting also imparts a smoky flavor bringing out the natural sugars. Raley’s advertised a 9:00 am roasting time and we arrived at 850 am.
There were two roasters going full blast when we arrived. The smell of roasting peppers was intoxicating. There were several people already waiting for their peppers. We went into the store to pay for our purchase and the wonderful smell of toasting New Hatch peppers followed us to the cash register. I may have begun to drool anticipating the meals to come. We got our peppers and jumped into the Racing Honda to return home. The car now had a roasted pepper air freshener that we would like to patent. Chile Verde was on the menu tonight.
Our barbeque was stoked and some vegetables and seasoned pork was grilled. The roasted vegetables and peppers were placed in a food processor and pulsed. The meat was chopped. All was placed in a pot and simmered. Green gold was created. This dish is comforting and satisfying. The peppers have s slight kick that leaves your mouth warm with joy. We love Hatch Green Chiles.
I found your site from the comment you left on Lea Ann's blog and decided to come have a look. Seems as though we have lots in common with gardening and meat cooking. This dish looks delicious. We were fortunate enough to attend the Hatch Chile Festival several years ago when our son was stationed at White Sands and it was chile pepper heaven with lots of roasters going full time - the whole valley smelled great. I'll be back on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteHappy time of year for you two!
ReplyDeleteBig Dude, Thanks for stopping by. I think I noticed you have a Klose. They are very nice and I hope to own one someday.
ReplyDeleteZoomie, Yes it is a happy time of year for peppers. When is your happy time?
My non-racing Honda still smells like Hatch, NM, even though I brought a full bushel of intoxicatingly-scented Gravenstein apples home Saturday.
ReplyDeleteSee you Saturday in Lakeport.
Aaron, It is going to be hot in Lakeport. Are you ready for the Cannoball contest at the pool. Bring an apple pie
ReplyDeleteOur Whole Foods was roasting them up on Saturday. my gosh did it smell good.
ReplyDeleteThat chili Verde looks outstanding! I always thought that the hatch thing was a marketing idea. Glad to hear from a trusted source that they are really the best.
ReplyDeleteLea Ann, Thanks for sending Bid Dude my way. Do not you love the smell of roasting peppers?
ReplyDeleteGreg, It is a marketing promotion for sure. BUT if you get true New Hatch peppers you will fall down to your knee's and thank the chile pepper baristas.
I can just smell the chiles roasting in that first picture. I have only had hatch chiles twice and that is infinity times too few.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see my local friend Larry finally made it here! (Big Dude)