it's hatch chile season...again!

[OldBaldHippie]

seems like I start this same thread every year but here we go again...


what should I make?

what are you making?

[The Turtle Whisperer]

I'll be making lots of green chili stew and freezing it. 

Didn't you freeze roasted chilies last year? 

[triciaflower]

I froze some last year, and I have one more pack left. YEAH! I rationed them all year.

I'm going to get the hatch chicken sausages.

I'm planning to make hatch mac and cheese, I think. I'm not a fan of the one in their cold case, it's more sweet than spicy. bleagh. I'm sure we'll also do hatch burgers. We made incredible mini hatch bacon cheeseburgers last year. Holy hell. They were good.

[diablita]

tell us about this chiles.  what makes them special?

[OldBaldHippie]

I'll be making lots of green chili stew and freezing it. 

Didn't you freeze roasted chilies last year? 

I did freeze some and then a few months later the fridge/freezer kicked the bucket so I had about 3 or 4 bags left that I had to use quickly...

will freeze more this year but the woman doesn't like to eat them...she gets heartburn...

I do like to make a hatch chicken fideo...

[triciaflower]

It's a green chile grown in Hatch, NM. They can be spicy but not overpowering. A really good flavor and that enhances just about anything! God I love green chiles.

[The Turtle Whisperer]

It's a green chile grown in Hatch, NM. They can be spicy but not overpowering. A really good flavor and that enhances just about anything! God I love green chiles.

1

You can do just about anything with them. 

One of my recent favorites is taking chicken thighs, lots of roasted green chilis and poblanos, some onions, garlic, Mexican oregano, and cumin and slow cooking it on the stove for four hours or more.  Spoon it into some tortillas... man is it good. 

I don't like doing it in a slow cooker because they seem to create way too much liquid. 

[triciaflower]

That's it. I'm going to HEB tonight for hatchies.

[OldBaldHippie]

I might make this hatch chicken enchilada casserole...I made something like this last year but I didn't write anything down...a friend's husband kind of took my description and wrote down measurements...

 2 medium onions chopped
1 bunch of cilantro  chopped
8 cloves garlic smashed
1 jar crema
20 yellow corn tortillas
2 pounds of chopped seasoned chicken cooked
2 pounds of hatch green chilies  roasted, skinned and chopped. Seed and rib them too
If you can't get the fresh ones used canned green chiles 4 cans (4 oz each)
2 cans of chicken broth
4 cups of shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Comino(cumin)
Flour
Sauté onions until soft  and translucent. Add smashed garlic (don't let it brown) add comino,cilantro and chiles. Stir and then gradually add about 3/4 of a can of broth. Add a little flour and stir until thickens. Add the rest of the broth if needed. Add about3/4 of a jar of crema and stir. Spray a 9x13 pan( needs to be DEEP or bigger than that) spray it with PAM. Warm the second can of broth. Tear the tortillas on half. Drop them and then fish them out of the chicken broth. Don't leave them or they will fall apart. Layer tortillas, then chicken then sauce, then cheese. Finish with tortillas and cheese. Bake 375 for 30 minutes

[The Turtle Whisperer]

Also, diablita, these green chilies and the maybe more familiar red chilies are actually one in the same, they're just picked at different stages of ripeness. 

[triciaflower]

That sounds like a GIANT casserole! YUM.

Heading to the store soon to get my chilies. Fore realz this time.

[diablita]

Our Fresh Market was featuring Hatch chilis today -- they had some mild and some medium ones so I bought a few mild chilis (now wishing I'd bought the medium b/c there's not a chance that my DH will eat even the mild and I like hot stuff). 

I have to decide how to use them.  If I buy more,  do I slice and de-seed before freezing?

[OldBaldHippie]

Our Fresh Market was featuring Hatch chilis today -- they had some mild and some medium ones so I bought a few mild chilis (now wishing I'd bought the medium b/c there's not a chance that my DH will eat even the mild and I like hot stuff). 

I have to decide how to use them.  If I buy more,  do I slice and de-seed before freezing?

I usually roast, peel and de-seed before freezing...so they are ready to use...but you don't have to...some people say they are easier to peel if you roast them then just freeze them...

[Natasha]

I'll be making lots of green chili stew and freezing it. 

Didn't you freeze roasted chilies last year? 

Mmmmm, I just had this at Chuy's. Is yours chicken or pork?

I also had it at a friend's house last week... her's was creamy and had avocado and lime in it.

I love stew/soup.

[The Turtle Whisperer]

Mmmmm, I just had this at Chuy's. Is yours chicken or pork?

I also had it at a friend's house last week... her's was creamy and had avocado and lime in it.

I love stew/soup.

I think I could live on stew/soup... well, and tuna! 

I'll use both chicken or pork, whatever I have.  I use thighs if I go with chicken, though... I think it has more flavor and they aren't as dry.   

Mine isn't creamy... I just use roasted peppers (1-3 poblano, 6 or 10 hatch/anahiem, 1-3 serrano/jalepeno and 1 green bell lightly blended/food processor..  or chopped up) and chicken stock and reduce.  You know... simmer all day  .  I'll make an 8 quart batch and look to reduce it by 2"s or so...

Celery, carrots, onion, potato, Mexican oregano, cumin, some garlic... I will usually roast and blend/chop one onion with the peppers and then use more onions just like you would any stew.  Lime right before serving. 

If you wanted to do creamy without making it too unhealthy you could use some extra potato's and pull them out and mash them and put them back in... Otherwise, sour cream, would work.  You could also add the sour cream at the table and people could choose between with or without. 

I've actually done this a lot with canned hatch chilis and the canned poblanos HEB sells.  I always keep some of those in the pantry.  It's still very good.   

[diablita]

do y'all roast on the grill or in the oven?  I've not roasted peppers before.

[The Turtle Whisperer]

do y'all roast on the grill or in the oven?  I've not roasted peppers before.

I've done both, but with hatch I mostly use the oven on low broil.  Then put in a plastic bag until cool and peel off the skin. 

[triciaflower]

I roasted mine on my gas bbq grill outside. Threw them in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap until they cooled off enough to handle. The skins peeled right off!

I keep the seeds. I like the heat.

[OldBaldHippie]

when I only have 5 or 6 I just burn the hell out of them by holding them right over the flames on the stove burner...then throw them into a plastic bag with a wet paper towel in there...

[diablita]

I roasted them under the broiler.  Very easy, but taking off the skin with a paper cut was not so fun.