Green chiles went on sale this week, so I stocked up. These peppers are good in just about anything. Hatch chiles are famous in the Southwest, and that's the variety I most remember from my childhood, but I think Anaheim peppers work just as well. (Hopefully there are no offended New Mexicans reading this post.) These peppers are very easy to roast and put up by freezing or canning.
In the Southwest, you can find roasted chile purveyors by the side of the road in the autumn. You can buy peppers there, or bring your own, and pay a guy to stick them in a rolling barrel roaster. After ten minutes you can take home a big bag of delicious fragrant peppers.
I approximate this effort with my oven, but if it's a nice day you might try grilling them instead.
I don't bother peeling my peppers, unless I'm going to use them right away, because the skin comes off very easily after defrosting.
Roasted green chile is a flavorful addition to macaroni & cheese, tacos, burritos, chili, and with hominy and tomatillos for traditional green chile stew (with or without shredded chicken). They're also good with eggs and tucked into all sorts of sandwiches and burgers. And they can be combined with onion, garlic, cilantro, and tomatillos for a green chile sauce that works well in enchiladas.
If you need other recipe ideas, Karina over at Gluten-Free Goddess has a bunch of New Mexican-inspired dishes.
ROASTED GREEN CHILES
Preheat the broiler on high. Place the peppers on a single layer on a baking sheet. Use dry peppers to prevent steaming. Roast the peppers for about 5 minutes, until the skin is blistering. Flip the peppers and roast for another 5 minutes.
Transfer the peppers to a bowl with a tight lid. Let the peppers steam in the covered bowl for about 5 minutes.
Slice off the stem and halve the peppers lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. If you plan to use the peppers right away, they should be easy to peel, then you can chop them up for your recipe.
To store, pack the peppers into quart-size jars. Add a large pinch of salt and cover the peppers with water, leaving an inch of headspace. Freeze for up to a year.
(Three pounds of peppers will make about three quarts.)
8 comments:
Oh, man. Growing up in Arizona, I remember the smell of roasting chiles in the fall. Now I want some!
I really, really love peppers de pedron. It's so hard to find them except in late august and early September in the farmer's market.
Leah, I grew up in AZ, too, in the Valley. Where did you live?
Greg, I'm not familiar with those peppers. Are they related to the pimento, as in pimientos de padron? I absolutely love fresh pimentos, though you're right that they're hard to find.
I grew up in a teeny town called Fredonia on the northern border, then my senior year of high school, my family moved to Provo, Utah. I moved to Tempe after high school, did two years at ASU, moved back in with my parents for a while, then my husband and I lived in Tempe and Mesa for the first four years we were married.
I drove through Fredonia a few times, and grew up in Mesa. My parents live in Gilbert now and my grandparents live in Scottsdale. I did a brief tour in ASU, too, before moving to Utah. I try to get back there as little as possible. :)
Chandelle, I certainly don't miss the heat, but I do miss good Mexican food, good citrus fruit and two for a dollar avocados!
I never appreciated those things when I lived there. Sounds good now, though!
This is a real cultural thing I see, and one I have yet to experience the pleasure of! But they look fantastic and my mind is swimming with ways to use them!
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