A Hatch Chile Whistled at me today!!!
Aug. 21, 2011 9:40 pm
Updated: Jan. 14, 2012 5:36 pm
Yes, a Hatch chile whistled at me today while I was roasting on my BBQ. Some of them snapped, crackled and popped too. And boy did they all smell good. It's Hatch chile season again!!! If you don't know what a Hatch chile is, then I would highly recommend googling
this little town in NM and see what's up.
The season for Hatch chiles is short, about a month. I'm in California and have the privilige of having these precious green chiles delivered every weekend to a store, well, somewhat near me. Today I traveled 30 mins at 6 a.m. to the Albertsons in La Habra.
This is my first time going to an Albertson's roasting where they sell the chiles in a 30lb bag for about $35 and roast the whole burlap bag for free. Little did I know that 200-300 people had the same idea as me. And luckily they had some left by the time
i got there at 645 a.m. It was GREEN SATURDAY because like Black Friday, people were camped out there since 4 a.m. for this great deal. People were in line by 7 a.m. to have their chiles roasted and that line snaked the whole entire lot at Albertsons.
Are they worth the hassle? Bet your chilis they are!! Was the roasting worth the wait? I suppose if you had a couple of hours to spare, which I didn't. So I brought my babies home and roasted them myself. I just roasted them on the BBQ while the kids swam
and I took a few laps myself in between.
I've been dreaming about these chilis since last year. I put Ortega canned green chiles in everything, but Hatch chiles are next level flavor that Ortega can't touch. Thoughts of chile verde, enchilada sauce, tomatillo salsa, green chile sauce, chile rellenos,
huevos a la mexicana, green chile corn muffins, chile relleno casserole, Hatch chile burger, chile verde omelette, Hatch chiles in my cereal (ok, maybe I got carried away with that one, but I do love these chiles)....and, well, the list goes on and on. I
think I'm pretty well stocked till next year. My only regret is not having gotten there earlier to have more of a choice with heat. I was only able to get Xtra hot and didn't realize it till I got home and they are very hot, but still delicious.
Here are some tips if you're going to one of these events..
- Get there early apparently. Like at 4 a.m. if you want more choices and want to be in the front of the roasting line.
- Buy some Ziploc baggies for freezing while you're there.
- Wear comfortable shoes. God only knows why I went in cowboy boots. I guess I got all "ranch" nostalgic.
- Take an ice chest. Once roasted, chiles are cooked and start leaking their wonderful liquid.
- Take a folding chair
- Take a book, a friend that is a good conversationalist, a radio, or just yourself becuase there are a lot of New Mexicans in line and they seem to be very nice and love talking about their chiles and their towns.
If you have any green chile recipes to share, I'd love to test them. Or better yet have the Hatch Cookbook with a recipe you've tested...Email me at
enriquez.angelica72@gmail.com
I'll post pics of my first Annual Chile Roasting!!!
