Thursday, September 09, 2010

{Green Hatch Chiles, Arriba!}

We (especially David) have spent a lot of time in New Mexico where they put green chiles
on everything, and we've really grown to love the damn things. He jumped at the opportunity
to get a sack full of chiles for a whopping $15 recently. When he got it, he thought, now what?




He gave three-quarters of them away to people at work and brought the rest home to
roast. Then, we prepped them. He washed and grilled, I peeled and deseeded.







The one thing I would do differently next time? Wear gloves. I couldn't believe how on fire
my hands were after handling all these. I mean, for hours. It was ridiculous.

Burning hands and all, I cut them into rajas and put small portions of them into plastic bags
to freeze for later. That wasn't the most ambitious option. Originally, I was thinking Hatch
Stew and other dishes, but that idea never took the form of a real plan. I decided it was
better to get them in the freezer then to let them sit too long and go to waste. D also made
me a really yummy lunch with them :)


Eggs over easy in a whole wheat tortilla with white
cheddar cheese and chilies. Delicioso!

I learned all kinds of cool things about green hatch chiles here, including ways to cook them.
* Hatch chiles aren't a variety but a geographical growing location along the Rio Grande,
northwest of El Paso in the Village of Hatch.
* When the green chiles ripen, they turn red. Green are technically the more desirable.
* The harvesting season for hatch green chiles ones only lasts about six weeks, while red
ones are sold year round. (Thus, creating part of the fascination with green hatch chiles.)
They said the season is from late July through September, and if you get them any earlier
"you've been had".

4 comments:

SplendidlyImperfect said...

I got to the picture of you peeling them barehanded and I was like HOLY CRAP THEY'RE HARDCORE!!!! Then I saw what you wrote next and laughed. You never forget your first time learning that lesson. I remember going to bed with a ziploc baggie of ice because my hands hurt so bad.

Samara Link said...

Sara, your comment gave me a good laugh. :) "Holy crap they're hardcore." No, we were just too stupid to know any better. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has done it. To say my hands hurt is a total understatement. They were on fire. At first, I was telling David how they were burning, and I could tell he thought I was nuts. So, later when he handled the peppers and touched near his eye, I felt like a justice had been served. (How 5th grade of me, I know.)

carlene federer said...

YUM! and lol on your burning digits...owch!

Kristi said...

Yum! Save a bag around just is case I can come down this fall sometime. I really want to and I am going to try to make it happen. We can make something yummy with them :)
PS Once you learn the hard way with peppers, you're not likely to make that mistake again!