If you’re lucky enough to live in New Mexico, you know you can buy roasted green chile by the sack and you can find it almost anywhere. You know it’s fall in New Mexico when the air is filled with the smell of roasting green chile. Most grocery stores will have it roasting right out in the parking lot starting in late August through most of September. Or, you could go straight to the source in Hatch, NM or, my personal favorite, Wagner’s Farm in Corrales. At Wagner’s you can enjoy a candy apple and stroll around the market while you’re waiting for your green chile to roast up.
I have some great memories of visiting Wagner’s Farm every year during green chile season. It was a tradition my kids and I never passed up while we lived in Albuquerque. Later, when I lived in Logan, NM I could buy green chile from the FFA kids who roasted it outside across the street from the post office. The FFA chile always seemed to be extra hot!
Sometimes it might seem like we take our access to green chile for granted here in the Land of Enchantment. Here in Santa Fe, you can practically find it on every street corner. I love the smell of roasting green chile. It smells like home to me.
Other states are trying their best to bring green chile to the masses. I know Colorado and Texas do their darndest to make New Mexico transplants feel at home, roasting in grocery store parking lots similarly to NM. But we natives know it’s really just not the same as at home.
So if you’re not in New Mexico during green chile season and you’re craving your fix of vitamin C, what are some other options? If you can still find somewhere to buy unroasted green chile, or you have a really great friend who will ship you some raw chiles you can still get the same great taste and aroma without the parking lot experience.
Here are a few roasting and storage tips from https://www.hatch-green-chile.com/pages/how-to-roast-hatch-chile
Roast Your Green Chile in the Oven or Broiler:
- Place chile on a cookie sheet or other non-stick oven-safe cookware. Poke holes with a fork in a few places on each pod (so they don’t explode), and place the cookie sheet as close to the heating element as possible after pre-heating your oven to 400 degree F. The broil setting works best as it will provide a high level of heat from your uppermost heating element or burner.
- Typically, it’ll take 6-8 minutes to fully roast but be sure to keep an eye on your chile. As soon as the skin is mostly blistered away from the flesh of the chile, you’ll know it’s ready to pull out of the oven. Leaving it in too long will burn the skin, making it extremely difficult to peel.
Roast your Green Chile on the Stove Top:
Cover gas or electric burner with a layer of heavy wire mesh and place chile on mesh once it’s hot; using tongs carefully turn peppers frequently, exposing all surfaces to the heat source until skin blisters evenly on all sides.
Roast your Green Chile on the Grill:
Place peppers on a charcoal grill about 5 to 6 inches above glowing coals; using tongs carefully turn peppers frequently, exposing all surfaces to the heat source until skin blisters evenly on all sides.
(Best outdoor option in my opinion)
Roast Green Chile in the Microwave:
Place peppers in a microwave safe dish; cover with secure air-tight lid to allow for steam build up. Place container on rotating plate in the center of the oven, then microwave for 7 to 8 minutes depending on the oven wattage and power level (settings may vary depending on microwave oven used). Blistering is not apparent with this method. However, the skin will have a tougher, more brittle texture compared to the raw pepper. Allow steam to fully develop in the covered container for I to 2 minutes after microwave cooking.
Caution: Steam will be released from container when the lid is opened.
*Freezing and Storage
Roasted peppers must be properly frozen to ensure a high quality, safe product. Roasted peeled peppers should be refrigerated within 2 hours of exposure to heat. Whole peppers can be frozen unpeeled and are easier to peel after freezing. Home freezers are inefficient at removing heat quickly from food placed in containers deeper than 2 inches. If storage packages are too large, peppers will freeze slowly, resulting in a mush texture because of ice crystal formation within the chile tissue. Therefore, it’s best to use shallow containers to allow for quick cooling. Specialized plastic freezer containers with lids or freezer bags are best for storing in freezer. Remove as much air as possible to reduce amount of surface crystallization that can form in air spaces during freezer storage.
Peppers can be stored safely in the freezer for up to 12-18 months.
Do you peel your peppers before or after freezing? That is a debate for another blog!