Love That New Mexico Chile

2008 Hatch Chile Festival

Bill — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:44:50 +0000

The Hatch Chile Festival is usually held around Labor Day and this year the dates are August 30-31. You can think of it as a mini-Woodstock for chile-heads. The Southern New Mexico festival celebrates the harvest of the year’s chile crop and there will be plenty of it to be had. The chile roasters will be roaring and that one of a kind aroma fills the air.

Activities also include chile eating contests, the coronation of the Chile Queen, live music, auctions and more contests.

As far as a town goes, Hatch New Mexico is pretty darn small and motel rooms are limited. Larger communities in Southern New Mexico with more motel rooms include Las Cruces, Demming, and Truth or Consequences. (The locals call it T or C) You might have better luck finding motel rooms in those locations.
Take plenty of sun screen and a big hat. There is not much shade, but there is plenty of New Mexico chile goodness and fun. And beer. Here is a link to the official Hatch Chile Festival website.

Ruth’s Squash and Green Chile Casserole

Bill — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:05:26 +0000

This is a super easy casserole dish that my late mother-in-law Ruth Schneider used to make. It combines a common summer veggie with the zing of New Mexico green chile. You may even have the veggie in your home garden. The list of ingredients is short:

2 good sized zucchini squash
1 cup or 2 4 oz cans of green chile preferably Hatch
1 cup of Colby or Cheddar cheese shredded
1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Peel, slice and boil until tender the zucchini. Drain well. Spray a 2-quart casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Olive oil would be good. Layer the squash, cheese and green chile. Add the seasoned bread crumbs to the top of the final layer. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and the top is a golden brown.

Cheesy Ham and Green Chile Casserole

Bill — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:27:55 +0000

Here is a quick and easy way to use up some left-over ham and get your fix of New Mexico green chile. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and fetch a 2 quart casserole dish. Here is what else you’ll need:

1 package of scalloped potatoes with sauce pack in the box
2 cups of hot water
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups of cooked diced ham (or chicken if that is what’s on hand)
1 cup of your favorite cheese shredded, about 4 ounces
1 4 oz can of of sliced mushrooms, drained
2 4 oz cans of chopped green chile or to taste. Hatch chile if available

Mix the potatoes, sauce mix and hot water in ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Let casserole rest 5 minutes and serve.

New Mexico Green Chile Meets Southern New Year Tradition

Billy — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:50:27 +0000

My wife is among those who out of tradition want to have some black-eyed peas on New Year’s day. She likes them and wants to eat them for “good luck.” I’m less enthusiastic about the peas and believe that it is bad luck to be superstitious.

After seeing a recipe that suggested adding black-eyed peas to home made salsa to keep the New Year tradition alive I decided to try the same with Pico de Gallo and of course include New Mexico green chile.In a medium bowl, combine the following ingredients. The amount of each item to use is only a rough guide. Feel free to adjust the amounts to suite your own taste. For example, if you aren’t real familiar with cilantro, use it sparingly at first. It can be an acquired taste. It is best to mix it all up then cover and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors marinate. Chop everything fine.

5 Roma tomatoes or about 2 cups of your favorite tomatoe
2 fresh jalapeno peppers. De-seed and de-vein one of them to control heat. Or don’t, your call.
4 oz or 1/2 cup chopped green chile, preferably Hatch
1/4 cup each white, red, and green onion. Include tops of green onion
1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
Juice of one lime
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt plus a few grinds of fresh black pepper
1/2 cup of canned black-eyed peas rinsed

Mix well with a spoon to combine. Serve with tortilla chips. It can also be used to top hamburgers or sandwiches. Throw some on your eggs in the morning and give your day a zesty start.

World’s Hottest Chile Pepper

Billy — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:31:19 +0000

There is a recurring bit in “The Simpsons” where Homer eats some kind of fiery spicy hot food, has a cartoonish physical reaction like flaming smoke rings flying out of his mouth while shrieking, then promptly and calmly says “more please.”

Not so when Dr. Paul Bosland of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University bit into a Bhut Jolokia, now considered the world’s hottest chile pepper. One bite was enough to convince him that this pepper packed some record setting heat and what he’d really like was a glass of milk and not another helping of that pod.

The Bhut Jolokia is indigenous to north eastern India and the name translates into “ghost pepper.” Seeds were sent to New Mexico by a colleague of Dr. Bosland. Plants were raised under controlled conditions and the heat levels tested in laboratories. Would you believe a pepper three times hotter than a habanero? Over a million Scoville Heat Units? Dude, that is hot!

You can read more about it here.

Turkey Soup

Billy — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:30:36 +0000

This recipe is less about the New Mexico green chile and more about what the heck to do with all that turkey you have left over from the holiday dinners. More specifically, the bits and pieces of dark meat scattered about the platter. Sure, the breast meat will find its way into sandwiches and omelette’s faster than Uncle Purvis can scratch himself and ask for seconds, but what about the lowly chunks of wing and thigh meat?

Whack that dark meat into bite sized pieces then break out a big pot and a can opener. This one is easy but mighty tasty. You’ll need:

2 14.5 oz cans of diced stewed tomatoes. Don’t drain.
1 or 2 cans of chicken broth
1 pound of left over turkey meat
1 green pepper cut into bite sized pieces
1 4 oz can of New Mexico green chile preferably Hatch
1 7 oz can of whole kernel corn, drained.
1 small can of sliced black olives
3/4 cup of that weird salsa you got for Christmas. Now is the time to use it.
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried crushed basil
1 tsp granulated garlic
salt and pepper to taste

In your large pot, combine all ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve in soup bowls with warm tortillas on the side. Optional toppings for the soup include chopped green onions with the green tops, fresh cilantro and shredded cheese.

Beef and Green Chile Quesadillas

Billy — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:38:14 +0000

Quesadillas are a great way to enjoy the flavor of New Mexico green chile. Most people probably cook quesadillas in a large skillet but this recipe uses a hot oven to crisp up the otherwise floppy flour tortillas. It also uses ground beef as part of the filling but chicken, turkey, pork, veggies, or just cheese works well too. Just don’t forget the New Mexico green chile! Here’s what you’ll need…

1 lb of lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 cup of your favorite salsa
1 (4 oz) can of chopped green chile, preferably Hatch, drained
2 cups shredded cheese such as Cheddar, Colby or Colby Jack
salt and pepper to taste
10-12 medium flour tortillas.

Preheat the oven to 450 F. In a large skillet brown the ground beef and onion over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. Pour off drippings and season with salt and pepper. Add salsa and the chopped New Mexico chiles then stir in cheese.

Spoon about a 1/4 cup of beef mixture onto half of each tortilla. Fold over. Place quesadillas on baking sheets and lightly spray tops of the tortillas with cooking spray.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until tortillas are slightly brown. Serve them with rice and beans or a salad and guacamole.

Green Chile Stew

Billy — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:16:23 +0000

I’m really looking forward to the end of the summer heat and some cool evenings now that the calendar says it is fall. Not that you would know it around these parts, but I digress.

Cooler weather calls for stews and the following recipe is a pretty classic one for New Mexico green chile stew. So pull out the Dutch oven or a big ol’ stew pot…

Here is what you’ll need:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds beef or pork stew meat
1 medium onion diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
6 cups vegetable or beef broth
3-4 medium potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
2 teaspoons Kosher salt, to taste
3 cups roasted, peeled, chopped New Mexico green chile or to taste

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat and brown the meat in
batches. Set aside. Saute the onions until golden.
Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Return the meat to the pan. Add the broth, potatoes,
salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for one hour, until the potatoes are tender. Add the green chile and cook 15 to 20 minutes more.
Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro if desired. Serve with warm tortillas.

Hatch Chile Chicken Soup

Billy — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 20:07:27 +0000

I’m thinking this recipe using New Mexico chiles has some Cajun influence somewhere in its history because it starts with a roux. Or maybe I’ve been watching too much Emeril Live.

Grab a big pot and a half cup of New Mexico green chile. Hatch chile would be excellent.

In a large pot, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add 3/4 cup all-purpose flour; stir the resulting paste over medium heat. Do this long enough to cook the flour a bit.Add 2 cups milk and 3 cups water, and stir to blend. If there are any lumps, use a whisk to stir them out. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add 2 cups cooked, boneless and skinless chicken cut into bite-size pieces.Add 1/2 cup chopped Hatch green chiles, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of garlic powder. Stir well and cover. Simmer 30 minutes and serve. Makes 4 servings.

Source: DMN, allrecipes.com

Freezing Whole Roasted and Peeled Chile Pods

Billy — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 20:46:09 +0000

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.