Its green Chile roasting time!!! I do believe that no one ,with the exception of my daughter Erin , loves green Chile's more than I do. My father in law lives in Las Cruces New Mexico. It was there that I truly learned Green Chili appreciation. Growing up in California I have learned to appreciate good Mexican food. It is abundant here. The Green Chili however is not a big part of the cuisine. Sure we have Chili Rellenos and Green Chili sauce but they tend to be bland and somewhat slimy.
Not in New Mexico though. They put Green Chili's in or on everything. Eggs, hamburgers , hot dogs ,you name it Green Chili's go on it. Once you have eaten a freshly roasted Green Chili your hooked!!!! I started out buying Big bags of Green Chili's when we would visit New Mexico . I would bring them home and roast them. They freeze quite well.
I always shop at the Mexican Grocery store for my vegetables. Great prices and they are fresh, fresh, fresh. One day I noticed they carry Green Chili's. Honestly I'm not sure if the regular Grocery store carries them or not but I do buy them regularly and roast them .
This year while shopping for plants for my vegetable garden I got quite the wild hair. Not only did I purchase Eggplant and Artichokes, stories in their own right, I purchased peppers ,peppers and more peppers. All kinds of Peppers. Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Yellow Peppers, and of course the Anaheim Green Chili. To my amazement the Green Chili's took off. All of them have taken off.
Following is a tutorial on how to roast Green Chili's for my niece Melissa the self proclaimed foodie. But you can roast Green Chili's too !!! Its fun and self satisfying. Great thing to do with kids. My daughter Erin enjoyed helping me and shes 18!!
First you start out with firm fresh Green Chili's . Get your propane or gas barbecue nice and hot. Put your chili's on the grate and shut the top. In about 3 to five minutes you will hear a sissing and some pops . This is the Chili's starting to pop. Once the skin browns on one side and you can easily stick a fork in it turn the Green Chili's on their other side and let that side brown. Don't be afraid of burnt skin. This is a sign they are done .
This is what the Chili's should look like. The skins will start to peel off. They should still be firm enough to hold a shape and let a fork pierce easily. You need to let them cool a bit. You don't want to wait too long as they peel much better while they are warm. 
This is how the skin should peel off. The Chili underneath should be pliable yet firm. Too mushy and you have roasted it too long. I don't recommend starting off with a large quantity as the roasting process is a learned one.
This is your end product. At this point you need to make a decision. As all the heat of a pepper is in the seeds, you can cut them open and get rid of the seeds or you can keep them in. The Green Chili flesh is a wonderful mild pepper .I keep the seeds in. After they defrost I can choose to keep the seeds or dispose of them depending on my heat preference.
This is your end product. At this point you need to make a decision. As all the heat of a pepper is in the seeds, you can cut them open and get rid of the seeds or you can keep them in. The Green Chili flesh is a wonderful mild pepper .I keep the seeds in. After they defrost I can choose to keep the seeds or dispose of them depending on my heat preference.
I them will pop 2 chili's in a baggie and freeze them. As it is just my husband and I this is the perfect portion of Green Chili. If I need more for a recipe I will defrost more bags. Now all you have to do is take them out of the freezer pop them into the nuker for about 20 seconds and you have fresh roasted chili's. Perfect for eggs, quiche, hamburger topping ,Chili you name it!!! Erin and I have decided I need to take the next step. Chili Rellenos here I come. Wish me luck........
Hey Lisa! Wonderful tutorial on Green Chili Roasting. I saw a guy on a cooking show roast them and your instructions are much easier to follow. Hey why don't you get your own cooking show??? You can maybe start on a local channel and work your way up to the Food Channel. There you go!!! Makes me want to get some chilis and try roasting them. Maybe I will buy a bag next time I get to the store. I never thought about shopping at a Mexican grocery for produce, of course here in the middle of the country we don't have as many stores as you folks on the coast, but we have a pretty large population of Hispanics, and we have at least one store in Lawrence. Wonder if their produce is as fresh as yours out there where they grow all the stuff? Well next time I journey into the "big city" I will check it out. bye for now. Good blog. Gloriadee
ReplyDeleteI can't do it!! Too hot for me!! I hope you find a ton of great new recipes to try though- enjoy them!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great tutorial. I fully expect you to make chili relleno by Monday!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips! That sounds great! They do sell them in grocery stores here, and they're really inexpensive. I LOVE them. I've roasted them before, but I usually do it under the broiler in my oven. I like your way better! I'm definitely gonna try that soon! After you roast them, if you put them in a bowl and cover it with saran wrap for a few minutes the skins will peel off more easily. However, this might make them mushy. Mine always seem to come out mushy. I've never had it not fall apart while I'm peeling it. Maybe I'm over cooking them. I'll just keep trying. I'd love to stuff them, but like I said... they always fall apart. I just usually throw them in my chili. I can't wait for cool weather!
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