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| Hatch Green Chiles |
More Hatch chilies! We had our own Hatch-a-palooza here at the house! For those unfamiliar with Hatch peppers just go to Google, type "hatch chili recipes" and you will get thousands of options. Here is how we save ours for use long after the season is over.
When WE LAST LEFT OFF, the peppers had just been removed from the broiler and roasting pan and placed, hot, into a Ziploc bag. Let them steam for about 20 minutes. This loosens the skin and lets them get cool enough to handle. I open the bag and just keep it next to the cutting board, pulling them out one at a time as you need them.
If you've got a good char on the outside, you can get lucky and this happens; the skin just splits open and you lay it open like the pages of a book. When it does, and if you're careful, you can get a whole pepper out of the deal, useful for stuffing later on.
Another way of peeling them is like a banana; hold it with the stem, start at the pointed end and peel it 'down' toward the stem just like that famous yellow fruit. One thing I do when I first pull one from the steam bag is gently roll it back and forth. This pulls the skin away from the flesh of the pepper and can make it easier to remove.
When you've got a really tender pepper, you can just firmly pull on the stem and it pops out, taking a ribbon of seeds with it. You can also cut it off like this, which more or less opens up your pepper and you can scrape out more seeds. It's really just your own preference.
Here is what your 'trash pile' looks like after some time of peeling and chopping. These are all the skins and stem ends from the peppers. The skin is tough and papery and leathery, sadly it's not useful for anything else.
I'm sure all of this could be composted, we just don't have a compost pile set up yet at the farm.
I just lay them on a plate as I go. You can still see a few seeds still on them. Some people don't want any seeds at all and if you don't, you can rinse them off. I try to get off as many as I can but I don't obsess about it. When I thaw them later, if I'm using them in a recipe where it matters, I can rinse them then, otherwise they'll go in as is.
After you are done, store them any way you'd like. We love our FOODSAVER, it's a great way to keep them frozen long term. You can also put them in baggies, jars or plastic containers. They will keep for up to a year in the freezer. We ended up with 24 of these bags. That's about two recipes per month...if we plan it right, that will be just enough until next Summer.
I have not grown those! We love peppers of any kind will have to put them on the list!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you did a great job putting them up too!
I have the dehydrator going right now with peppers and celery. I dry a ton of peppers every year for cooking with. You might try that with these peppers too at some point :O).
I don't know how they'll grow in these parts. I think there is something 'special' about where they grow in Hatch New Mexico that makes them unique. Yes, we ended up with a couple dozen bags in the freezer.
DeleteI SO want a dehydrator. Do you have one you recommend? I always get this booklet on something called Excalibur. But then I see them at WalMart and places like that for waaaay cheaper.
Any thoughts?
I'm a regular reader of your blog (congratulations, it's great!) but I haven't commented, before.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say, you don't have to have a 'formal' compost pile set up to deal with your kitchen waste while at the farm. Just dig a small hole somewhere and bury it (maybe in the general vicinity of where you might start a veggie patch in the future or close to a favourite plant?) and let the worms deal with it. It can only add to the quality of your soil and it won't attract vermin.
Well, first of all, THANK YOU! I always like when we get to read comments. It makes me know there are more out there watching and reading and interested in my ramblings, ha. Please don't be a stranger.
DeleteAs for the compost, wow, that's a great idea!! I never realized that. I have an area I'm slowly getting ready for some gardening next Spring and this might be a great time to get that ground working. Thank you for the suggestion!!
You really don't want to wash the peeled roasted peppers. I have read and heard that will wash some of you roasted flavors off.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you roasted them. I usually do a bunch on the BBQ, but that is more time consuming, however, very good roasted flavor.
Diane
Yes, I should have clarified that. I only mentioned washing for those people who are worried about the seeds. But they really really don't add heat and you can get almost all on first cleaning.
DeleteAnd definitely, the fire roasted is THE way to go if you can. as you said though, just a bit time consuming but definitely worth it. :-)
I love hatchapalooza season. :) Right up there with fire roasted corn on the cob smathered with butter and chili.
ReplyDeleteMMMM.....fire roasted corn. Love that stuff! There is a grocery store down here that every weekend they have a little cart outside selling fire roasted corn. OMG that stuff is SOOOO good.
DeleteHello I saw on Pinterest this and I have to disagree with you on taking out the seeds and peeling the chile before you freeze it. I live in New Mexico and about an hour from Hatch we grow and roast chile and even to to Hatch to get more if we need to. I have grown up on this chile and it is the best chile around. it is best if you leave the skin on after roasting and the seeds in the chile because when you freeze it you will not get freezer burn and the chile seeds add more flavor the chile. you can take the seeds out after you defrost it.
ReplyDelete