Fall has finally arrived and even if the the definite chill in the morning air didn't give it away, the smell emanating from my neighborhood would tell you what season it is. In Northwest Denver, the corners are dotted with chile stands, roasting up the goods. For about $22 per bushel, you can tote home your very own cache of hot roasted chiles. For the uninitiated among you, I'll run through the routine.
- Get in line and look over the chile selection.
- Pretend to know the difference between the Anchos and the Big Jims. Remember the basic rule of thumb that the smaller the chile, the hotter the spice. Make your chile choice based on the level of heat that your tastebuds can handle.
- Try to guess how many batches of chile you will be making in the upcoming year, because you will be buying for the whole year.
- Pay the cashier and join the Peanut Gallery to wait while your chiles are roasted.
- The roasters will gather your chiles and dump them into the cooker (which looks like a bingo drum).
They lock the door, strike the flint and proceed to roast your chiles to a searing, nearly black crisp, while bits of dried chile peel blow around in a warm breeze spicy enough to make your eyes water. - When the chiles have been roasted into submission, they are dumped into a large garbage bag and tied with a knot.
- Pack this sweltering package into your car and drive home with the windows open. Do not make any other stops that would require the chiles to spend more time than necessary in the car or you will be enjoying this aroma for the next six weeks. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be kind of awkward at a business meeting when you notice your colleagues sniffing the air around you.
- When you arrive at home, don some latex gloves and pack the chiles, 8 or 10 at a time, into quart sized freezer bags.
Be sure to leave out at least one package to cook with this evening. Make something fabulous - you will be hungry after breathing in the delicious aroma of chiles all afternoon.
We have done this many different ways and have learned much through the years. The first year we bought all super hot chiles and made it all into Green Chile Stew that day. A day long process that was tasty, but so fiery hot that we had to dilute our stew with about 8 parts of water to even be able to taste it. Also, that first year we learned about gloves. We didn't wear any and ended up soaking our hands in milk in a desperate attempt to cool the capasin burn penetrating thousands of tiny cuts I didn't know I had. Another year found us trying to peel all of the chiles on bagging day. This was a brilliant idea on the surface, but five hours into the process, I decided that peeling the chiles as I used them wasn't such a bad idea. And while I do have friends that buy all of their chiles in the fall, but leave them unroasted, choosing instead to use the grill to roast and peel them as they use them, I've decided against this method. I have tried this with green peppers and the peels are nearly impossible to remove. I'm fine with letting the guy on the corner tackle the roasting for me.
While we waited for our chiles, a man struck up a conversation with my mom. He had picked out some chiles of his own and had joined the waiting throng. He was asking what kind of dishes you could use chiles in. While Mom explained the finer points of chile cooking, I pondered what would have motivated someone with no chile experience to pull over and buy some. I'm glad he did - chile is a great thing to discover!
For some ideas, check out my previous posts under the Fun with Green Chile category or just let your imagination run wild. Anything made with Green Chile is a great meal - you'll be hooked!
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