I had rubbed the blistered peels off of some good sized Hatch New Mexico chile pods that I thought would be perfect for chile rellenos. However, I wanted to freeze them and make the rellenos another day. I also wanted to freeze the batch in such a way that I could grab just a few without having to thaw a whole bag of pods.

I figured laying the chile pods out on cookie sheets would give me individually frozen pods but I didn’t want them sticking to the cookie sheet. I also wanted to freeze two layers of chile pods. What to use, waxed paper or parchment paper for lining the sheet?

It turns out, in my little experiment anyway, that parchment paper does a better job and lets go of the pods nicely. The chile had a tendency to stick to the waxed paper.

Just spread out a piece of parchment paper on the cookie sheet and lay the pods on the parchment paper side by side but don’t let them touch. Put the cookie sheets in the freezer overnight. You should then be able to move the frozen pods into a freezer bag, get them right back into the freezer, and have a handy supply of chiles to draw from when you get a hankering for chile rellenos.

One of the easiest ways to keep a bit of chopped green chile handy is in a zip lock bag.  After roasting, peeling and chopping a batch of chile pods, I spoon a half cup or so into a quart size freezer bag. I then press the chile flat with the palm of my hand, squeeze out the air, zip up the bag and into the freezer it goes.

Now I have a thin layer of chopped chile that I can break off in small chunks when I just want a little bit, say enough for a single sandwich or serving of scrambled eggs.