We discovered last night that the Fresh Market in south Tampa has fresh hatch chile in stock. Finally, a year we don't have to have them shipped in! Now if only they were roasting them as well.
YMMV at other Fresh Markets, but it sounds like they should all either have them or will have them soon as they are being advertised in the latest flyer.
jfischer27
Sep 04, 2009 05:07AM
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I saw that too. Was just trying to figure a way to roast them and then make green chile sauce.
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RibDog, the recipes that I googled made it look totally simple. Roast in any one of a variety of ways and then de-skin and that is it. I am going to have to try it. What do people think about taking the seeds out?
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They really need to be de-seeded and peeled. When I lived in CO I bought 5lb bags of fresh roasted, and maybe 5 or 6 of those. That is a lot of work if you are starting at home with a bushel of fresh. Rats! (I'm just south of the Skyway bridge now, needin' Hatch..)
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They're pretty easy to roast if you have a gas oven. Put them under the broiler and turn as they start to char. I usually put mine in a heavy plastic bag once they are done in the oven, they steam a bit and it makes them much easier to peel.
The harder part is roasting a large quantity of them, like the 25 lbs I just bought. If only I had one of the home roasters, or can figure out how to rig something up for the grill fairly easily.
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Got mine at the South Tampa location. $1.69 a pound. I will let you know if I have any success. Thanks for pointing this out. It's an exciting project.
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Ohhhh, thanks for the great tip! I'm on my way to my local Fresh Market for a long-overdue Hatch chile fix!
The way I roast and peel chiles (Hatch, Anaheims, Poblanos, etc) is to rinse them well then place the whole chile under the oven broiler until they are nice and charred on all sides. I then seal them in a ziplock bag (making sure to release as much of the air as possible), plunge the bag in a bown of cold water, and let sit for 15-20 minutes, changing the water a couple times. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, I peel off the charred skin then either slit lengthwise and clean out the seeds and veins (to prepare for chiles rellenos) or cut off the stem, clean out the seeds and veins, then slice lengthwise into "rajas". They are wonderful a million ways; I love them as rajas in tacos (I buy my tortillas fresh-made at La Cabana del Tio in Clearwater), with queso fresco and perhaps carne asada, grilled chicken, and/or guac or sliced avocado. Enjoy!!
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Laurie,
This was the first time that I roasted chiles. I followed pretty much the same process minus the bowl of water. It worked out great. Thanks to the OP for posting this.
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But oh, to have one of those industrial sized squirrel cage roasters with the propane blasters for an hour! It is so tedious to do them in small batches.
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I don't know. Being a chile-making virgin, I found it sort of fun and rewarding. The house surely smelled good.
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Glad it worked for you, CFishman! I too love the aroma of roasting chiles wafting through the house. I do agree with Veggo that the New Mexican-style cage roasters are the best way to go. For me it's a nostalgia thing, too; when I lived in Texas, the Hatch chile roasters outside the market on a Saturday always used to herald the beginning of fall for me.
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