Hatch Chiles are here, but be forwarned

I was in Raley's today and folks were buying boxes of them. Raley's was telling them that they are very hot this year. I noticed my mild ones last year were hotter than usual. So I picked up my 5 pounds (ten pounds lasted me two years) and am processing them tomorrow, early. Supposed to hit 108°. Ouch!

Supposed to hit 108°.

That sure is a hot pepper.

Does anyone know of a source for Hatch chiles in New Hampshire or eastern Massachusetts?

-Paul W.

Does anyone know of a source for Hatch chiles in New Hampshire or eastern Massachusetts?

-Paul W.

Have you one of these stores near you?
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http://www.wegmans.com/blog/2011/08/hat ... n-is-here/[/url]

[Jenise]

10 pounds in two years? Wow. We go through about 15 pounds per year.

10 pounds in two years? Wow. We go through about 15 pounds per year.

The first year I bought them, I went through 20 lbs with just the two of us. I determined that was way too many peppers for us.

I actually ended up with eleven pounds yesterday. They are charred, packed and in the freezer.

[Jenise]

You do yours a bit differently than we do, from the pics you posted sometime back. Yours are charred but less cooked and very neatly packaged. Nothing wrong with that at all. I just do mine like the way I first had them in New Mexico, they're completely cooked and I wad three-four per little ziploc sandwich baggie after pulling out the stem and seed cluster. That's a two-cheeseburger portion for us. Tacos, Chile verdes and enchilada pies will use up a lot more.

Suddenly, I'm dying for a good green chile cheeseburger. Could be dinner.

Humm....not sure what you mean by completely cooked. Mine are cooked too, sometimes I think too much, because they cook even more with the way I use them. I have not put them into hamburgers yet...good idea. Hamburgers or turkey burgers are usually summer fare about here because I love putting a large slice of a big summer garden tomato on my burgers. The tomato stays put with each bite.

I actually double bag the Hatch peppers after they cool. Putting two to three into a sandwich bag that closes tight, then I put about four to six of those into a freezer zip lock bag. Makes it so easy to take out what I need. I freeze with the charred skin and seed pods intact. They only need to thaw about five minutes or less and that skin comes right off, and I pull on the stem and out come the seed pods, most times.

Karen,
I picked up a case of fire roasted hatch chiles from a local Raleys few hours ago. I was given a choice between hot/mild. I chose the latter and they are delicious, not hot at all.
-Shaji

[Jenise]

Humm....not sure what you mean by completely cooked. Mine are cooked too, sometimes I think too much, because they cook even more with the way I use them. I have not put them into hamburgers yet...good idea. Hamburgers or turkey burgers are usually summer fare about here because I love putting a large slice of a big summer garden tomato on my burgers. The tomato stays put with each bite.

I actually double bag the Hatch peppers after they cool. Putting two to three into a sandwich bag that closes tight, then I put about four to six of those into a freezer zip lock bag. Makes it so easy to take out what I need. I freeze with the charred skin and seed pods intact. They only need to thaw about five minutes or less and that skin comes right off, and I pull on the stem and out come the seed pods, most times.

By completely cooked, I mean they're olive green and soft, no bright green left. When I put them in burgers? No lettuce-tomato, that's a different burger. I lightly marinate the green chiles with EVOO, vinegar, salt and oregano, and layer them with purple onion and arugula. Tomato would compete with the green chiles--neither would taste better.

I just remember seeing a pic you posted of your green chiles. They were blistered but still very green. Mine are so cooked they wad up easily--about 25 or 30 baggies of 3-4 chiles each will fit into a one gallon zip loc. I prefer to remove the stem so that it can't puncture the little sandwich bag, which aren't very thick.

Oh, mine are well cooked then. I can wad them up however, I let them cool, then lay them in the first bag flat and straight. I put in a single layer, and get about 3 to four in. This year, the ones I picked out were very straight and about ten inches from stem to tip. I had to skew them into the bag so they would fit. It's all good!