Hatch Green Chiles

You know if you are an EE reader that we love New Mexico.  It stands to reason, then, that we love Hatch green chiles.  We try to plant at least one NuMex Big Jim pepper every year so we can have a few but the garden has been pretty sketchy this year.   Besides to be authentic Hatch NM peppers, they must be grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico.

I was super excited (to say the least) when I saw that our local grocery store would be roasting Hatch green chiles for free if you bought a 25 lb. box.   I was all in.

I arrived at the store around 12:30 on the Saturday of the event.   The line to the roasters was sooooo long.  I decided to persevere and went inside to purchase a box of mild chiles.

I was told that they would record names on a wait list, write your name on the box and set them back in the cooler and roast them in order.   A call would be made when you could come pick them back up.  I waited about twenty minutes just to get my name on the list.

Then, I returned home and prepared the kitchen.  I got out the Food Saver, washed out my smaller freezing containers, and washed and sterilized jars.   And, I waited.   And waited.

At 4:30 I simply went back to the store to check.   They said I was next on the list.  Do you know it only takes about 4-5 minutes to roast chiles?   I was soon on my way but I was able to enjoy the aroma that will always remind me of New Mexico.

From five o’clock that evening until about 7:30, I peeled and seeded peppers.   Twenty-five pounds is a LOT!

My sealable bags went unsealed.  No chopped chiles were placed in little containers for freezing and no jelly was made.   The big mixing bowl got covered with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for later.  I was exhausted!

I plan on making green chile jelly and will post that later.