Batches of Hatches available
Hatch chiles are available at local Homeland stores.
Local Homeland stores have gotten into the annual late August Hatch chile explosion. 10 pounds for 10 dollars at my Homeland store. So many chiles, so little time.
First things first, learn to make green chile. It’s the foundation of all New Mexican cuisine. You can use it alone, or use it to make stews. Only the limits of your creativity and their availability stand between you and a daily green chile dose.
First, the green chile must be roasted, skinned and seeded. Direct flame is the optimal roasting method. Since most of us don’t own rotary chile-roasters, so the grill is your best choice. The broiler will work, but direct flame has always worked best for me.
I crank it up, and turn on my Ipod. Place the chiles over the flame. By the time you’ve heard “Black Betty from beginning to end, it’ll be time flip.
By the time you’ve heard all of “Common People” by Pulp, it’s time to rescue these New Mexican refugees. They should be good and charred, but not extra crispy.
Plunge them immediately into a bowl or pot of ice water for quickest results.
You can also wrap them in wet towels and seal them in a Zip-loc for 15-20 minutes, too. I like the ice water method because it’s fast and tends to keep the chile crisper. Since it’s going to cook again, I like to keep it as raw as possible.
Next, simply put a slice down the side of the chile, flay it open and brush away seeds.
Flip and peel away the charred flesh of the chile.
Now they’re ready to cook.
Here’s a basic green chile recipe. Some like to thicken with flour or corn starch, but not me. I use it in multiple formats, so I don’t like to mask the chile flavor with anything.
Instructions
- Heat up cast-iron skillet on medium high. Add oil and heat until it stirs. Saute onions about 30 seconds. Add garlic and saute another 30 seconds. Add grated carrot and saute about 1 minute. Add chiles and saute about 3 minutes.
- Season with pepper and cumin.
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Simmer on medium low, uncovered 40-45 minutes. The longer it cooks, the thicker it will become. I like to use an immersion blender for a smoother sauce.
Culinary tradition: New Mexican
I made a little midnight snack with for my first foray. A cross between Salisbury steak and the green chile cheeseburger, I call it Hatchbury Benedict.
When picking out chiles, keep in mind that as they ripen they will get hotter. Buy extra and cook them at your oven’s lowest temperature overnight to dry them out and reserve for red chile this winter.
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 pound ground chuck
- 1 cup green chile sauce
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 celery stalk, diced
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup queso fresco
- 6 eggs
- 6 small corn tortillas, julienned.
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- butter
Instructions
- Saute onion, garlic, carrot and celery about two minutes and salt generously.
- Dump mixture into food processor and add ground chuck. Process until the mixture is like deviled ham, 45 seconds to a minute.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Heat cast-iron skillet and add oil.
- Form meat into 6 1/4-pound rolls and place in hot oil. Sear on each side about 1 minute. Drain and reserve oil. Bake 10-12 minutes.
- Heat a small frying pan and add reserved oil. Fry Tortilla strips in reserve until crisp, about 5 minutes.
- Drain on towels, salt and set aside.
- Heat a standard egg skillet and add a little butter.
- Cook the eggs over easy.
- Remove patties and top with an egg.
- Cover with green chile sauce and grated cheese.
- Top with tortilla ribbons
Cooking time (duration): 45 minutes
Meal type: Midnight Snack
Culinary tradition: New Mexican
Ingredients
- 10 Hatch green chiles (As they ripen they turn red and get hotter) roasted, peeled, seeded and diced.
- 1/2 charred medium onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic mashed into pasted with 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 carrot grated
- 1 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon toasted, ground white pepper
- 1 teaspoon toated, ground tellicherry black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
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Comments
Nice site! I bought the Hatch chilis late last August and made green chili stew–definitely a sweet flavor without much fire. Now I want to try to grow them and find the three seed choices from Hatch. A mild, Big Jim, and a hot. I am thinking the Homelands were mild. What do you think? Thanks, can’t wait to try your sauce (in Colorado, they had chili roasts at the Walmarts–so convenient!). Megan
[...] 2 cups Hatch green chile sauce. [...]