Hatch Green Chiles at Whole Foods- yum!

[mbasnack]

Picked some up at Whole Foods in West Newton last night. On sale for $1.99/lb...Hard to come by in this neck of the woods...

If you don't know best way to serve-- grill them over direct flame until black. Pop them in a plastic bag or bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 10 minutes. Peel off skin and dice. Can keep in fridge or freezer for weeks.

I used them in a great recipe from Bobby Flay with candied bacon (roast thick cut bacon coated in Major Grey's mango chutney for 30 minutes), goat cheese and a good sirloin burger. Top burgers with green chile...heaven.

[Neecies]

No need to peel and dice before freezing. For the best long-lasting result, simply rinse the chiles (gets rid of ash, adds water layer to help chiles survive the freezer) and place 3-4 at a time (amount you'll use, essentially) in zip loc sandwich bags rolled tight to exclude air. Put all the baggies into a quart sized Freezer zip loc, and you're good to go.

[Ferrari328]

Bought a bunch at the WFM in Woburn today for 99c a pound after my lunch at Masa and also got to taste the gazpacho made with the hatch chilies. Yum!

[opinionatedchef]

neecies, as far as i understand, one NEVER wants an ice layer on a food product either before or after freezing. quite the opposite. icy product definitely has less flavor than non-icy. so don't rinse those chiles before wrapping. see posts regarding this earlier in the thread.

[Mizona]

I found them at the Whole Foods in Bedford Ma. for .99 lb, bought about 8 lbs ,roasted them and froze them for the winter! yum!

[jeah6]

I bought 10.5 pounds at the WMF in Bedford...here are the results of our roast fest! (margaritas helped)

[opinionatedchef]

FYI: at Fresh Pond WF today,, i was told they had none, but then there they were in 2 separate locations(cooler w/ other peppers and an island pile). They were not in good shape; must be weeks old or not refrigerated properly because they were 90% wrinkled/bendable (same w their entire stock of picklling cukes)instead of shiny/firm.
Nonetheless, I brought home 3 lb of firm ones and it took a max of 8 minutes to blacken them. I don't bother w an outdoor grill. I use 2 gas burners over which I place roasting racks or circular racks etc., feet up, so the chiles make maximum contact w the flames. then it's just turning til blackened. I'll proceed to freeze them w/ the brilliant pcdarnell 's technique.- thanks again, pc.

btw, has anyone inquired how long these may be available at WF?

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

That technique is pretty standard: it's exactly how the frozen chile we get from Albuquerque comes.

[Passadumkeg]

I am right now calling my bro to ship me out a case Fed Ex!

[BostonZest]

Bought my supply at Whole Foods on Washington St in Brighton today.

Penny
http://www.bostonzest.com/
follow on
http://twitter.com/BostonZest

[pcdarnell]

I bought 25 lbs. last summer, grilled them until charred, cooled them then froze in 1 lb. portions in zipper-type freezer bags. I did not peel them prior to freezing; they are extremely easy to peel when they thaw. Don't even waste your time peeling ahead if you plan to freeze them.
They are so much better than the store bought canned chiles. I have not home canned them, so I can't compare. I gave a bunch away and people loved them.
I am on the hunt for more this year, hoping to make a buy for the same $24 I spent last summer.

[threedogs]

Thanks so much for the tip! Anything to make things easier, esp. in this heat, is appreciated.

[opinionatedchef]

pc, how brilliant of you to figure out that technique. YOU are a hot ticket. i'm on your bus now; The Hatch Express!

I tried getting them through my wholesaler, Russo's, but Tony says they don't carry them.
too bad. looks like WH is the source, though maybe Sid Weiner's, a new bedf. wholesaler, has them.

[sarcasticfolly]

On this note, I picked up some Hatch Chile Cornbread from WF in Medford, it was quite good, especially with jam if you're into the spicy/sweet thing.

[Mizona]

Bedford Whole Foods made in store Hatch chile Sausage and cheddar links

[pcdarnell]

I got mine at a supermarket in No. California last year.
BTW, I have been to Sid Weiners on numerous occasions when we would visit friends in So. Dartmouth. I love that place!

[okra]

Sid Wainers
2301 Purchase
New Bedford, MA 02740
[phone]

http://www.sidwainer.com/

[mbasnack]

Some additional ideas for that roasted green chile...If anyone' s ever been to Blue Corn Cafe in Santa Fe (my mouth waters at the thought of their prickly pear iced tea...oh, how I miss it)...

They have two great soups there...here's the recipe for the Tortilla Soup.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/tortilla-soup-recipe/index.html

The other is a recipe for corn (good timing) and chipotle peppers-- but green chile would be a great addition...This soup is one of the best I've had...ever.

http://recipes.epicurean.com/recipe/2...

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Search the home cooking board from a couple years ago for my green chile stew recipe, based on the version served at the Frontier Restaurant in Albuquerque, which is the best green chile stew in the world.

[Passadumkeg]

You are sooo right!!!

Go Lobos!

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

As a proud ENMU grad, I can only agree with the first of those statements.

[Passadumkeg]

Isn't Portales in Texas? (Heh, heh, heh)
Damn, ordering Hatch chiles on line is $55 for 25 lbs. Sometimes I wish I didn't live so far to the end or the earth. Ironic that I get lobster the same price as green chiles, but I want the chiles!
I still own 7 acres at the base of Mt. Taylor, however.

[PinchOfSalt]

I grilled mine last night over a bed of Wicked Good charcoal on my venerable Weber grill (nearing its 30th anniversary). Both the chilis and the charcoal were procured at the Fresh Pond WF.

- This charcoal burns HOT HOT HOT. It is even hotter than the Natures Own Lump Charcoal I had bought last year at Russo's, having sworn off Cowboy charcoal based on dismal experience. It is also a better buy - 22 pounds for $19 at WF versus 8.8 pounds for $9.50 at Russo's. Russo's really raised the price over what it had been.

- Due to the extremely hot fire, I found it best to lay down a bunch of chilis and then cover the grill briefly, then remove the lid, turn the chilis as needed, and cover again, etc. This kept the fire cooler and made it easier to blister the chilis all around without incinerating them. Even so, the fire was so hot I needed to wear a glove on my tong hand. I can't remember ever needing to wear a glove except for emptying the hot charcoal from the starter...

- Approximately 8 pounds of fresh chilis produced about a gallon of blistered chili pods. This is before removing the stems and seeds.

All in all, given the hot fire, the process went very quickly - less than an hour between starting the fire in a chimney-style starter and completing cooking. I may well hit the River Street WF later in the week to see about that 25 pound case at a discount. There's room in my basement freezer, and a whole year until the next harvest....

[opinionatedchef]

as usual, the mediocre woburn WF doesn't have them so i see we'll be trying medford or fr pond. the woburn store is so lacking in their deli, produce, seafood- that we rarely go there. you can bet that they will not have: turkey meatloaf, trout, skate, jerusalem articokes, hatch chiles, chanterelles,full line of cheeses, white and whole wht pastry flour,large iggy's francese- when the FrP store WILL have them. I know the FrP store is their flagship and i'm glad it's there; i just wish the customers and/or buyers at the woburn store- would cause these things to be stocked there. Now I always call the woburn WF before going there in vain.

[threedogs]

Has anyone cooked these up and tried them?

I lived in Tucson for awhile, and the best thing about living there were the chilies that were cooked outside a local Hispanic food market. My Spanish was dreadful, (what little I learned then, I've since forgotten, too), so I never was able to ask what kind of peppers they were - but they were phenomenal.

I still dream about that flavor - I put those in so much of my food back then. I'm betting they were Hatch chilies, and I'm hoping these WF peppers are just as good.

[bizkat]

I bought about 4 lbs at Fresh Pond WF. Cooked, peeled and used some as a topping for Green Chile Burgers. They tasted good but I have nothing to go by since it was my first time experimenting with hatch peppers. Can anyone else attest to their quality and taste?

[threedogs]

I'm going to try to get to the Swampscott WF tonight or tomorrow (never made it there this wkend despite my intentions). If they have any, I will try them - and compare them to the peppers I used to get in Tucson. Of course, I don't even know if those were Hatch, but they were delicious (then again, I can't roast them on grill like they did, since I'm in an apt.)

[mbaca]

Just got back from the Hatch Green Festival at the Whole Foods on River Street. We bought a whole box -- 25 lbs -- and got a discount. $33 for the whole thing! It'll take awhile to roast, but the weather is great this weekend, so it should be a fun project.

[PinchOfSalt]

I tried for he discount price at the Fresh Pond WF today'; no dice. The guy said out and out refused to give me a case discount and said I would have to pay the full $1.99/pound on the 25-pound case. Perhaps I need to take a trip to River Street....

[cpingenot]

I might try that too-
I canned 9 pounds last week, but I could easily use all that in a couple of batches of green chile. I managed to do it before the super hot weather set in, so doing it this week might be less fun...anyone out there interested in splitting a case?

[tallullah]

I picked up 8 lbs at the Symphony WF. I process them today and decide if I'll go back for more. Still on sale for 1.99.

[bear]

Picked up three pounds at WF in Framingham. Should have gotten more to freeze.

[digieclipse]

They had them at the West Medford Whole Foods as well. I was picking up ingredients for salsa so decided to use one, but I just diced it raw. It was much more mild than I expected and actually reminded me a bit of a slightly more piquant green bell pepper. I wonder if I didn't pick a good one?

www.carbalicious.com

[mbasnack]

They are mild chiles-- more smokey in flavor. In New Mexico you'll find them roasted and put in cream cheese, in bagels, on top of pizza, in stews, on cheese burgers, and of course...when you order any New Mexican style dish they will ask if you want 'red or green' on top of your enchilada, etc. I've never found them hot...

But, they aren't great raw...much better if you roast them. Here's a great CH thread on green chiles:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/281363

[StriperGuy]

Do they taste much different from a regular poblano?

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Poblanos are totally different. They're more closely related to Anaheims, but New Mexico chiles (which is a sort of catch-all term that includes a lot of very similar breeds, most of which were cross-bred by local agricultural agents in the last 50-75 years) are bred a bit hotter. They're still pretty low on the Scoville scale -- they top out around 5000, whereas Anaheims are more like 2000-2500.

As mbasnack mentions below, the main thing is that New Mexico chiles don't actually taste very nice raw: many breeds have an odd sort of metallic flavor raw, in fact. They've been bred to be roasted.

[StriperGuy]

Thanks.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Seems *way* early for true Hatch...

[mbasnack]

I dunno. I used to live in ABQ-- and you could buy them on the side of the road almost year round...and the Hatch Chile Fest is in late August, from what I recall...so I'd bet they are authentic. They only had a small batch of them-- and they were advertised as from Hatch.

Regardless? They blew the crappy canned green chiles out of the water. So, "authentic" or not...they did the trick for my recipe.

[enhF94]

When I lived in ABQ we could only get them roadside for about the first three weeks in September, but I looked around on hatch-shipping sites, and some are shipping, while others say "very close." So I suppose it's reasonable.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Like enhF94, I only ever saw roadside chile sales in early September (maybe the last week of August if the harvest was early), and the Hatch fest is always on Labor Day weekend.

I don't doubt that they're New Mexican/Big Jim/etc. chiles, it just seemed unlikely that they're really from Hatch, since if they're already in Boston now, they were likely harvested in late July. That's at least a month early for the Hatch crop.

[walker]

Last week I got some at the WF in San Francisco for .99 lb.

[threedogs]

show-off!

;-)

[walker]

Ha-Ha -- Yes, I couldn't resist. My daughter used them in a chicken tortilla soup with fresh cubes of avocado. Come visit SF and Napa. I'm trying for a trip your way to see the leaves turning in October. (Used to live on Cape Cod as a child.)

[threedogs]

Oh, I wish I could! I lived in Tucson for 2 1/2 yrs & have a cousin in SF (never even met her) - but still didn't get there. There's so much in SF - I think my head would explode just trying to figure out what to do first...

[Rubee]

Ahh, but on sale here in AZ today for 2 lbs/99 cents at the Ranch Markets. ; )

BTW, there are some more great recipe ideas for these seasonal beauties in a current discussion on the Home Cooking Board:

Hatch Chiles
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/550370

[finlero]

FWIW, I just moved to Santa Fe, and the roasters are already going, with chiles actually from Hatch.

Apparently, due to a really warm summer, harvest is a few weeks early this year. We haven't reached peak (the whole town doesn't smell like green chile yet), but the season is definitely upon us.

[TripelDouble]

Greatest smell in the world. If I could teleport to Santa Fe right now, I would.

[cpingenot]

ooh ooh ooh!
I can't wait to go try to find some at a whole foods near me. Especially if they're on sale!
Might have to clean stuff out of the freezer to make more space for them!
I normally get some as a care package from my Colorado living brother, but would be great to get my own!

[cpingenot]

I think I freaked the cashier at WF on Prospect out a bit yesterday when I arrived at checkout with 10 pounds of chiles. Am trying to decide whether to freeze or can them after roasting.
I have always seen them preserved by freezing, but my tiny fridge has a tinier freezer, and I'm trying to (pressure) can everything that won't be ruined that way.
Anyone have any experience home canning (roasted) peppers?

[mbasnack]

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E-308.pdf

[cpingenot]

Thanks,
That's the recipe I was planning on using, but I was just curious if anyone had done it and knew how the texture and taste was with canning vs freezing. I know that you can buy canned green chilies and canned red peppers, so I'm hoping it's about the same.

[opinionatedchef]

thanks much for the heads up. i use them for chilaquiles( rick bayless recipe for Tortilla Casserole(tortillas layered w/ hatch chiles, sour cream, cheese and baked. ;lasts well in freezer and reheats well.