Hatch green enchilada sauce: your take?

[rotuts]

Im a big fan of green chile enchilada sauce.

my sister from TX sent me two cans of " Hatch Green Enchilada Sauce "

http://www.greennbrown.com/hatch-farms-green-chile-medium-enchilada-sauce-12x15-oz.html?gclid=CIDP6LCq2LsCFeFlOgodpHAAJg

Im a big fan of the 'green' taste. this can is exactly what I after:

green flavor, heat, tart, etc

i cant find it in my neighborhoods. too bad. Id put it on everything. OnLine: prohibitive.

so well I though Id make my own. from the India Marts I can get all the ingredients. I have

a Breville blender, what could go wrong?

it turns out most on-line Rx's use tomatillos. I can get them but to me they are 'ehh'

the ingredients on the can list:

Water, Green Chili puree, diced green chiles, corn starch, Soybean oil,

<2%:

Natural flavors, citrics acid, diced jalapenos, garlic powder, dried cane syrup, Hydrolyzed corn and

soy proteins, onion powder, Green Bell Pepper Powder ( ) salt, yeast extract, and canola oil

how hard can this be to duplicate? note no tomatillos.

so ... maybe somewhat already has

appreciate your thoughts. If you like Green, a bit of Heat, and this is in your store, give it a try.

Edited December 30, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[Darienne]

That's the site of our favorite green chile recipe. Yes, it has tomatillos in it. Is this a problem? Our own eG's Andiesenji's favorite recipe.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Darienne (log)

[basquecook]

I buy hatch peppers frozen.. they come in 2 lb bags, i buy 50 pounds at a time.

[rotuts]

tomatillos are not a problem in themselves, but i dont think they add much taste, just pale 'green-ness'

however, as Ive said the Canned Hatch is pretty close to perfect for me, tastes differ, no reason an Rx w

tomatillos added cant match the Canned Hatch

two other things: i doubt the true Hatch chile is vitally important. I have 3 - 4 fresh green ones at the India Mart.

certainly the Thai Birds can get the sauce to the heat Id like.

also: does cooking the sauce change its taste? granted the Canned Hatch green is cooked .

[rotuts]

"" I buy hatch peppers frozen ""

do you think the true Hatch adds something irreplaceable ?

[Darienne]

Sorry. Somehow the address dropped off.

The address dropped off again and I did preview the post this time. I don't understand why. I'll pm you the recipe.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Darienne (log)

[BeeZee]

I believe I saw this in my local Whole Foods, did you check there? I remember being really surprised because it was specifically Hatch green chiles.

[rotuts]

I havent looked yet but thanks for the reminder Ive heard that.

I have to get my Immunizations up-to-date first

[Paul Bacino]

Gotta Whole Food...that is where I get my Hatch sauce...red and green..

[FeChef]

I wont touch any enchilada sauce green or red that comes in a can. I make my own red sauce though, with a blend of dried california,new mexico, and pasilla chiles. They dont sell dried green chiles in my area. Im not sure if dried is needed though. I might try drying a blend of anahiem, pablano, and jalapeno chiles to make the same sauce recipe but green. Who knows, might be good.

[rotuts]

Many thanks.

Ill get to W.F.'s as soon as I drum up my old Yellow Card and get it updated.

hope I don't have to go to the U.S.P.H.S for it. they might be out of business

Ive been there in the past.

anyway god tips and Once at W.F.ds

if they have the can Im interested in ill get a couple

as refs. for the project. just in case.

many thanks,

[Ttogull]

"" I buy hatch peppers frozen ""

do you think the true Hatch adds something irreplaceable ?

I don't know if irreplaceable is the right word. I too have bought frozen and fresh Hatch chilies, and they add something unique. To me, every chile has a unique taste.

I think you could make something better than canned quite easily. If you had Hatch chilies, great. If not, you can make something really good anyway.

As Fechef suggests, I'd start with with a base of roasted peppers like Anaheim or "banana peppers." Roast them under a broiler or on a grill if you like smoky. Look up the technique if you do not know. Peel the skin off and remove seeds (important to remove bitterness and toget right texture). The frozen hatch chiles I've had are already roasted. Also roast whatever peppers you want for heat, but hatch sauces are, IMO, about taste not heat. Thai bird is the wrong taste to me. Serrano and jalapeño are better. Also roast garlic and onion. Blend all of these, run through a medium sieve and cheesecloth (for enchilada sauce). Mix with apple cider vinegar and oil (I see corn oil suggested, but cannot recommend for health reasons). Salt and sugar as you want.

It will blow away the can.

[Jaymes]

It's been my experience that there are (at least) two completely different green sauces commonly used in Mexican cooking. There is the tomatillo-based sauce, and the chile-based sauce.

Tomatillos have a distinctive tang that green chiles do not have (think green tomatoes). I love both of these sauces and make them frequently. The tang of the tomatillos produces a more strongly-flavored sauce. The more mildly-flavored green chiles work really well with enchiladas, but are not strong enough, in my view, to work well with chilaquiles, for example.

You can make either sauce hotter with the addition of spicier chiles and peppers.

I lived for quite a number of years in New Mexico, home of the Hatch chile. Here's my recipe for New Mexico Style Stacked Green enchiladas. There are no tomatillos in this recipe:

Sonoran-Style Stacked Green Chile Enchiladas

Prepare your green chile sauce first:

For sauce:

12 medium green chile peppers (of course, fresh are way best, but if you must....), peeled, seeded, deveined and chopped

2 medium tomatoes (or 1 cup canned tomatoes), chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 small garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

1 tsp salt

Roast chiles over gas burners, or on outdoor grill, or under broiler until blistered. Put into plastic baggies and allow steam to permeate. If you don't like using plastic, use a paper bag, or even wrap them up in a dishtowel. This makes the chiles easy to peel. Remove peel, core, seeds, and visible veins. (Edit: Should have added that if you are using canned green chiles, you don't have to take this step of roasting, peeling, etc.) Chop into half-inch pieces. Place into saucepan and add tomatoes, onion, salt and garlic. Pour in enough water just to cover and simmer ten minutes. (If you wish, in addition to roasting the chiles, you can roast or grill the tomatoes, onion and garlic to give the whole thing a more smoky flavor.)

For enchiladas:

1 doz corn tortillas

2 C grated cheese (again, if you have a fave Mex cheese, use it; if not, half good quality mild cheddar and half jack)

3 C green chile sauce

Allow two or three tortillas per person. Fry tortillas quickly in hot fat just to soften, then dip into hot green chile sauce. You are going to assemble these on the individual serving plates. I usually have my plates stacked in a warm oven. One at a time, place a prepared tortilla on warm plate, sprinkle with cheeses, another hot tortilla, more cheese, top with hot tortilla. Pour over as much green chile sauce as you like for desired wetness. Serve immediately. You can top it with a dollop of sour cream if youd like. That turns it into Enchilada Suiza, a reference to the Swiss immigrants to Mexico, who incorporated dairy into many traditional Mexican recipes.

Edited January 1, 2014 by Jaymes (log)

[rotuts]

Yep. WF has a decent line of Hatch.

the can in question is $ 4.59

they do have very very small cans of roasted Hatch Chile. Im glad I brought my Microscope so i didn't miss them

$ 2.59

at least they will be there for Ref.

many thanks to all for helping out !

[Darienne]

Where we live in the4 Great Frozen North, the only fresh Mexican/Southwestern chiles we can get are Jalapenos or Poblanos. And the Poblanos for only a couple of years now...and they are labelled "Hot".

How would Poblanos fit into your recipe, Jaymes?

(We can't get fresh tomatillos ever but I grow them every summer now and keep them frozen until needed.)

[FeChef]

Where we live in the4 Great Frozen North, the only fresh Mexican/Southwestern chiles we can get are Jalapenos or Poblanos. And the Poblanos for only a couple of years now...and they are labelled "Hot".

How would Poblanos fit into your recipe, Jaymes?

(We can't get fresh tomatillos ever but I grow them every summer now and keep them frozen until needed.)

Thats strange. I live in the Northeast and the grocery stores list Pablano as 1000-2500 scoville, where Jalapeno is listed 2500-5000. I used to make a green dipping sauce with only jalapenos but the family and sometimes even myself thought it was way too hot to enjoy so I started making it from 1/2 pablano and 1/2 jalapeno. Now it is much more enjoyable.

[rotuts]

a lot depends on where you buy your green chile

I used to grow quite an array. ive noticed over time that in the "White Bread" supermarkets most of the heat has been bread out of green chile

in markets w a bit more ethnic flavor, sometimes they have green chile w the heat you might expect. sometimes.

if you get and look at seed catalogues its all pretty much there: you can get seeds for Serrano's and Jalepeno's that very greatly in heat.

[FeChef]

a lot depends on where you buy your green chile

I used to grow quite an array. ive noticed over time that in the "White Bread" supermarkets most of the heat has been bread out of green chile

in markets w a bit more ethnic flavor, sometimes they have green chile w the heat you might expect. sometimes.

if you get and look at seed catalogues its all pretty much there: you can get seeds for Serrano's and Jalepeno's that very greatly in heat.

Im referring to walmarts produce, which is most likely distributed everywhere. Jalapenos just seem to be getting "breed" not bread btw, hotter and hotter over the years, atleast in my area's produce suppliers.(no idea where they come from. I also dont buy from local farmers anymore because of cross breeding. I have gotten jalapeno's as hot as habaneros from local farmers that had them growing too close to each other.

[rotuts]

point taken. typo.

no walmart produce in my area. three 'white-bread' supermarket chains : one locally owed

the other two, who knows. cant get anything green there w reasonable heat.

Edited December 31, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[brucesw]

Yep. WF has a decent line of Hatch.

the can in question is $ 4.59

they do have very very small cans of roasted Hatch Chile. Im glad I brought my Microscope so i didn't miss them

$ 2.59

at least they will be there for Ref.

many thanks to all for helping out !

Ouch! Hatch products are everywhere here; haven't checked at WF but wouldn't be surprised to see them in C-stores.

I priced it yesterday at WM for $1.98/can; $1.69 at Fiesta, on sale from $1.89. I looked but don't remember what the canned chiles were going for.

I've never used this. The only canned enchilada sauce I've used is Old El Paso, the green, but I didn't see that available at either store yesterday. That's based on nostalgia, not a taste-test comparison with any other brand.

[rotuts]

I'd give it a try, esp @ $1.69 at Fiesta.

it really suits me. It just might be your Cup of Green .

[Jaymes]

Where we live in the4 Great Frozen North, the only fresh Mexican/Southwestern chiles we can get are Jalapenos or Poblanos. And the Poblanos for only a couple of years now...and they are labelled "Hot". How would Poblanos fit into your recipe, Jaymes? (We can't get fresh tomatillos ever but I grow them every summer now and keep them frozen until needed.)

Poblanos should work perfectly. In fact, Poblanos, Anaheims are what I use.

[rotuts]

my sister, who lives in TX sent me several cans of green sauce:

the one on the L is the H.E.B. store brand ( a chain in TX her area ) and its almost identical to the Hatch. its mild, the Hatch is med. no other big dif:

Hatch @ HEB : $ 1.98 HEB green sauce : $ 0.98

so I assembled an experimental 'casserole' :

two CK breast from a previous Vertical Weber Roast, sliced

tortillas from my area :

casserole w two cans of sauce pre-bake:

baked in the BrevilleXL ( baked then broiled top )

plate:

used TJ's Jack cheese and some Mexican Queso Seco. the Seco was too salty for me and will be left out next time.

for me, really delicious.

Edited January 10, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Jaymes]

Although not an 'in-depth' treatise on all Mexican chiles, this article gives a pretty good thumbnail sketch regarding Anaheim/California, Hatch, Poblano, etc.:

[tried to put a link here]

Boy, as Darienne noted above, links (and cut & paste) are not working. Sunspots?

However, you can go to Mexicanfood.about.com, and then to Types of Green Chiles.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

Rotus, you said that the Mexican queso seco was "too salty" for you and that you would "leave it out next time."

The really salty Mexican cheeses of that type crumble, rather than melt, and are best used as a sort of garnish. Use it like you might use feta. It's definitely a type of cheese we love and always keep on hand. We crumble some over beans, tacos, and soups, etc.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Jaymes (log)