As I walked up to the local grocery store today, I spied this:
It's a chile roaster. Essentially it's a fiber tumbler attached to a flame thrower and can roast a large volume of chiles in a short period of time.
If you're not from New Mexico or don't have an appreciation for New Mexican food, you may not fully appreciate the excitement that was welling within me.
Then I spied these:
It says Hatch Green Chile. These are New Mexico Green Chiles from Hatch, NM.... aka the food of the gods. OK, maybe not really the food of the gods, but they are pretty darn awesome and there is nothing quite like the flavor of a New Mexican Green Chile.
Some people will tell you that Anaheim chiles are the same. They look the same, but they are not the same. It's like saying Krab is the same as Crab.
I confirmed with the clerk that he was setting up to roast chiles. Then I convinced him to roast a box just for me. He looked at me like I was a bit nuts, because they sell their roasted chile in small containers like these...But I convinced him to give me the full 30 pounds in a garbage bag.
Here are my chiles after sweating about 20 minutes. They are ready to start pealing.
The alpaca dog and I found a comfortable spot in the back yard, poured an icy-cold beverage and embarked upon peeling.
A bowl of peeled Green Chile.
30 pounds of roasted Green Chile resulted in 15 quart sized freezer bags, which should last us about 4 months.
Hubba is still planning a trip to New Mexico to get more Green Chile. Most likely he will pick up freshly roasted Red Chile too.
Wow, you are some SERIOUS green chile eaters! I'd be in heaven if I had that bag full of roasted red peppers :).
ReplyDeleteMy mouth is hot just reading this post. How exciting to get your own like this.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that being a Michigan Gal, I'm not big on the hot and spicy but with my new health regime, I am going to need to add some spice to my life to adjust.
Thanks for sharing the photos.
lol. That's the beautiful thing about green chiles... they come from mild (almost no kick) to Extra Hot (burn the hair right off your head hot). I like the mediums which have just enough kick to warm you but not so much that you can't taste the flavor.
ReplyDeleteIn NM, they sell the chiles by the 40# sack or 15# basket. Then you wait in line for sometimes more than an hour for your chiles to get roasted. It's a big social event of chatting with your neighbors and drinking in the wonderful roasting chile smell.
I think everyone has chile in their freezer in New Mexico. "Red or Green?" is the state question.
We eat a little green chile in or on almost everything. It's soooo yummy. :-) And I'm so happy to have some in our freezer again... we've been chile-less for a few months.
@Jamie - roasted red peppers are just as wonderful. I think roasting brings out the flavor. Oh so good.
ReplyDeleteOn a whim this Saturday I picked up a bag at the Farmer's Market. It was a much bigger bag than I was used too. We had some in eggs both days that weekend, but we haven't figured out what else to do with them... But my ice cubes taste faintly of roasted chilies which isn't a good thing!
ReplyDeleteI live in NW New Mexico and the roasting is going full swing here. Will get mine tomorrow or Saturday.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and what an advertisement for New Mexico!
Marilyn in NM
Thanks Marilyn. :-)
ReplyDeleteI am very happy to be back in Colorado, but Green Chile is one thing I miss about living in New Mexico.