Hatch Chili Peppers (Merged Topic)

[Paul Bacino]

Side Note  for RC  --Have a designated driver to leave/ one pitcher of Margaritas for 3/  Wasted we were 

 

Edited August 11, 2021 by Paul Bacino (log)

[Annie_H]

I just ordered HatchGreenChilis a few minutes ago. An annual tradition. Tomatillos are about to form up in the garden. A wild patch in the back. Smoked hatch tomatillo salsa for the winter months. My best home grown are the tiny Peruvian Ahi Amarillo. Not much luck with others in my climate. An Ahi plant I can bring indoors and will continue to produce fruit throughout the holidays. 

[Shelby]

3 hours ago, Annie_H said:

I just ordered HatchGreenChilis a few minutes ago. An annual tradition. Tomatillos are about to form up in the garden. A wild patch in the back. Smoked hatch tomatillo salsa for the winter months. My best home grown are the tiny Peruvian Ahi Amarillo. Not much luck with others in my climate. An Ahi plant I can bring indoors and will continue to produce fruit throughout the holidays. 

I usually order those, too.  I told my husband I was going to skip this year because I still have a couple packs in the freezer....but I am really wanting some fresh ones....

[Annie_H]

When they are delivered I panic about processing...lol. But they keep for a few weeks being so fresh. I freeze some whole, but most get roasted/smoked. I used my last zip-lock gallon bag in the Spring....roasted/smoked with garlic and onions...

We are not entertaining as much as pre-covid....but I will go ahead and make my smoked tomatillo salsa as always and deliver to friends and family. It does freeze fine.

[Shelby]

24 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

When they are delivered I panic about processing.

That's the main thing stopping me.  I have a lot on my plate right now.  I know I can buy them already roasted and peeled but the fresh are sooooooo good.

[dtremit]

You all have me tempted to order some chiles. Which of the varieties do you prefer?

 

@Annie_H — how do you smoke the chiles? I just got an electric smoker this year and this sounds like a fantastic use of it.

[Annie_H]

Last year they gave us a heads up that BigJim was much more mild than usual. I prefer the big size of BigJim. Do note that 5 pounds is 35$ and 10 pounds is 40$.

!0 is a better deal. (I get 25lbs) 🤪 share with friends and co-workers if I have too much to dealio.

I roast/smoke with tomatillos and a few whole heads of garlic per tray. I did run out of steam last year and just froze some whole fresh. Straight from the freezer into the smoker buried in snow in January. Stuffed a couple dozen over the holidays. I'm sure we could find many uses but we like the salsa. Our electric smoker is just outside the kitchen door so we can keep an eye on it. 

Our monster wood fired smoker is not a winter game. 

If you do order, just bag them like any pepper and stick in the fridge crisper drawer. Even oven roasted in a turkey roaster with tomatoes is good. 

Smoked are killer good. 

 

[weinoo]

37 minutes ago, dtremit said:

You all have me tempted to order some chiles. Which of the varieties do you prefer?

 

@Annie_H — how do you smoke the chiles? I just got an electric smoker this year and this sounds like a fantastic use of it.

 

Try here - https://www.hatch-green-chile.com/collections/fresh-hatch-green-chile

 

I don't believe they are smoked; I think they get roasted.

[dtremit]

26 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

Last year they gave us a heads up that BigJim was much more mild than usual. I prefer the big size of BigJim. Do note that 5 pounds is 35$ and 10 pounds is 40$.

!0 is a better deal. (I get 25lbs) 🤪 share with friends and co-workers if I have too much to dealio.

I roast/smoke with tomatillos and a few whole heads of garlic per tray. I did run out of steam last year and just froze some whole fresh. Straight from the freezer into the smoker buried in snow in January. Stuffed a couple dozen over the holidays. I'm sure we could find many uses but we like the salsa. Our electric smoker is just outside the kitchen door so we can keep an eye on it. 

Our monster wood fired smoker is not a winter game. 

If you do order, just bag them like any pepper and stick in the fridge crisper drawer. Even oven roasted in a turkey roaster with tomatoes is good. 

Smoked are killer good. 

 

Thanks -- that's super helpful! I am on the fence about Big Jim vs Sandia — think we might like them a little hotter. (I wish they'd let you split a 10lb box between two varieties.)

 

What's the time and temp you use for smoking them?

 

We are supposed to start getting tomatillos from our farm share soon...super excited about that.

[Annie_H]

That is where I purchase. HatchGreenChile.com.  Same website. Fresh or roasted. I buy fresh. Right now is the season through mid September. They ship every Tuesday. 

6 years now. Always fresh and gorgeous. I first bought them at Kalustyan spice NYC. old and shriveled at top dollar. (must have been weeks old). Fresh direct from the grower is the way to go. 

[Annie_H]

BigJim does have some heat. Last year I ordered Sangria. We decided this year we want the BigJim and can add a bit of habanero if not spicy enough. Too spicy ruins it for me. 

I think smokers are like ovens...all different. Smokers may be more oddly different. Last weekend we had sausage lower rack, then salmon fillets, then upper rack a variety of cheeses on a tray of ice packs. Mozzarella, cheddar, chunks of pecorino. Cheeses I did 45 minutes, salmon and sausage 1.5 hours, (sausage pre-cooked a bit in a cast iron pan)...smoking salsa/tomatoes/tomatillos/garlic/chilis....one hour for our liking. Good smoke flavor without killer char smoke. Our smoker kicks in about 1/2 hour after plug-in. When the chips start smoking, trays go in. Shallow trays for salsa and peppers. 

Last weekends cheese. Pecorino so good on popcorn. 

[dtremit]

@Annie_H That's a good point — it's not the heat that's unique in those chiles, and I always have hotter peppers around. 

 

That cheese looks phenomenal! It's one of the things I'm really looking forward to doing. 

 

I did a smoked cream cheese as one of the first things into the smoker — coat it in a BBQ rub, and smoke for a couple of hours. Bizarre recipe, but a food writer I trust wrote about it. It was amazingly good. I did it in a small cast iron skillet so it went straight to the table as an appetizer. I'm thinking goat cheese would be even better. I am hoping to get a pellet "maze" to do something closer to true cold smoking when the weather eases up a bit — you just light the pellets in the switched off smoker.

 

I was expecting I would use the smoker mostly for meat, but I am finding I really love it with other stuff. Smoked peaches were great in a salad, and smoked tofu was phenomenal. Some eggplants will be going in this weekend.

[Annie_H]

On 8/27/2021 at 1:51 PM, dtremit said:

I was expecting I would use the smoker mostly for meat, but I am finding I really love it with other stuff. Smoked peaches were great in a salad, and smoked tofu was phenomenal. Some eggplants will be going in this weekend.

I bought mine for salmon. Holiday stocking stuffer 2019. (we are not big gifters usually) A last minute thing. Had it running outside the kitchen door in the snow within an hour. Brilliant during lock-down. With 4 racks I'm always searching for other things to go in while it is running anyway. Peppercorns, lemon zest salt blend...chunk of feta, cherry toms, olives, garlic, lots of lemon slices...need to try tofu! 

The salmon from BristolBay Alaska is flash frozen sushi grade. I've taken out a couple fillets straight from the freezer into the smoker. 

I should receive my Hatch end of next week. First batch I plan to smoke whole for stuffing. 

[Annie_H]

Hatch chilis were three days late due to the storm. Picked a bad week to order. From NewMexico to CO, to OH, to MO...then NewJersey. At one point they trackers said to expect on the 7th. Thankfully they came this morning. 90% are fine and firm/fresh but not nearly as nice as usual. I have 20 of the biggest and straight in the smoker for stuffing...a load cut into rings in the oven...turkey roaster. 

Lots to process. This much and more in the crisper drawer....

 

[Shelby]

Do you think they are not as meaty due to the longer shipping time and getting older or they just aren't as good this year

[Annie_H]

15 hours ago, Shelby said:

Do you think they are not as meaty due to the longer shipping time and getting older or they just aren't as good this year

Oh, no, the quality is excellent usually. Like any produce from the garden or grocery will, once harvested, start to suffer. Like the lime uncovered in my crisper from 3 weeks ago compared to the fresh ones. 

Horrible storm and airports shut down. I have a hard time complaining about some suffering produce. They offer a higher shipping with guarantee but i've

never had an issue. With the guarantee and a pic I would have a new box sent this week. 

Here is a pic from my files 2018. Ordering straight from the farm to my door will often be quicker than what is found in the grocery. (transfer station, trucking, loading dock, then shelved...maybe sits a couple days before purchase). My box traveled the country diverted. When they estimated delivery sept 7th, yikes. Would have been a slimy mess for all that handled the box.

They offered a 50% off a re-order but I can't put blame on the farm for delays from the Delta variant and a deadly storm. 

I can usually, like this 2018 pic, start processing my various ways, over the course of a week or so, then the remaining start to turn a bit pink/red....my delayed box this year is at that point now. I need to process asap. What is left in the crisper now will be some fresh pico, in another fresh slaw, etc. Another roasting tomorrow and be done with it.  2nd pic is 2 dozen roasted whole and a batch roasted sliced in rings, (six one quart zip-locks), and two 10 inchers stuffed for last nights dinner. 

 

[Annie_H]

Dinner plate after some oven time. Stuffed with wild rice, merguez, gorgonzola dolce. Fennel, red onion, fresh hatch slaw. 

[chileheadmike]

I took this while peeling a batch of chiles. They were Roasted on my Weber kettle. Kroger's has them on sale, I've picked up a bag full every time I go. 

[chromedome]

Well, then...this brings discussions of "terroir" and growing conditions to a whole other level.

 

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2021/10/05/houston-we-have-a-pepper/

[Kim Shook]

Saw this yesterday at my local (Richmond VA) Kroger:

Not at all sure whether I believe it or not.  It reminds me a little of the San Marzano tomato issue brought up in Stanley Tucci's Italy series - the person he was interviewing said basically that there is only so much land to grow these things - do you really think that there is enough to supply all that Italy AND the rest of the world demands?  Even more true of Hatch chilies.  I have a vague memory of someone here mentioning driving near Hatch and seeing trucks full of chilies heading into the area.  

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

Saw this yesterday at my local (Richmond VA) Kroger:

Not at all sure whether I believe it or not.  It reminds me a little of the San Marzano tomato issue brought up in Stanley Tucci's Italy series - the person he was interviewing said basically that there is only so much land to grow these things - do you really think that there is enough to supply all that Italy AND the rest of the world demands?  Even more true of Hatch chilies.  I have a vague memory of someone here mentioning driving near Hatch and seeing trucks full of chilies heading into the area.  

 

This may be the discussion you remember about Hatch chiles....

 

 

[liuzhou]

Could someone please give me an idea of the size of these Hatch chilis? They look like something I get here, but without scale it's difficult to be sure. Thanks.

[Shelby]

9 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Could someone please give me an idea of the size of these Hatch chilis? They look like something I get here, but without scale it's difficult to be sure. Thanks.

I'd say they are about 7-8 inches long on average.

[heidih]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I'd say they are about 7-8 inches long on average.

But it is the unique "terroir" of the Hatch Valley in New Mexico that is the unique/special flavor - they say. Not sure how long that can hold with significant ongoing climate change.

Edited August 1, 2022 by heidih (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I lived in NM from the mid sixties to the early seventies. In those days Hatch chiles came from the Hatch area and they were reliably vey hot. Terroir plays a part, I'm sure, but the seeds have to be a certain variety. If you lived in Albuquerque and grew the seeds from Hatch chiles they would be hot, but you couldn't really call them Hatch. At some point after I left to live in CA a variety of chile called Big Jim was developed and some were grown in Hatch. They were big, varied a bit in heat, but were generally considered mild. If you see a sign that says "Mild Hatch Chiles" you are most likely buying Big Jims. They could be grown around Hatch or they could be from somewhere else.

 

Since I have not been back to NM in quite a while I don't know what the situation is there now and my information may not be current. The first years I lived in CA I missed real Hatch chiles terribly, and spent the dollars to have them shipped fresh in season. My friend Elaine, also a NM transplant, would also spend hours roasting a giant box of them to freeze for as long as they lasted. After several years of the extravagant purchase the chiles started to taste suspiciously unlike true Hatch chiles I remembered. I'm pretty sure they were mixing in Big Jims in haphazard quantities or they had grown a hybrid. Clearly growers were hip to the value of calling something "Hatch."

Edited August 1, 2022 by Katie Meadow (log)