Green Chile!

It's hard sometimes to be a native New Mexican living in Northwest OH...we've got a serious lack of access to good (New) Mexican food. A few years ago, though, I learned somehow about a Hatch chile roasting in our area, at a Kroger store about half an hour away. Mark and I went, and bought a bunch of freshly roasted chile. It was amazing! The next year, we found a similar event, in a different town nearby. That year, Mark was busy with work, but I recruited my friend Chad to go with me. He got some chile, too, and then he was hooked on the NM flavor. 

Sadly, the next year, there were no roastings to be found! I called the produce company who had put on the previous events and discovered they didn't work with Kroger anymore. We were out of luck for a couple years, which seemed especially disappointing since we'd had those two delicious years of NM green chile. 

This year, I was determined to find a new supplier--and I did! Through a different produce company, I found roastings in driving distance, though further than the previous years. I recruited Chad again, and we went to a roasting in Fenton, Michigan. It was about an hour and forty minute drive, but then we got our hands on fresh roasted Hatch chiles. Oh, the smell in the air--it was just like home. And they had a few other products for sale, too, like chile flavored nuts and green chile mac & cheese. We each ordered a case of roasted chiles (that's 25 lbs! I went for hot, Chad got mild), plus a couple of pounds each of the opposite heat level (just for good measure!). It was roasted up in no time, and we were back on the road. 

Hatch chile products in the grocery store

a case of fresh chiles, roasted to order

the chile roaster in action

For lunch on the way home, Chad drove us to a cute little garden shop/market with a small cafe (in Ann Arbor). On the way, we were delighted to spot one monarch butterfly after another flying across the sky (we must have caught them during the main migration season--there were so many!). 

outside at the garden shop 

I can't seem to resist these little photo opps!

Of course, buying the chile is just the beginning. When I lived in ABQ, I never bought fresh roasted chiles--it was too convenient to get it all ready to go from the freezer aisle at the store. Here, with my nearly 30 pounds of chile, I had my work cut out for me! I spent about 10 hours over the next 3 days peeling, seeding, dicing, and freezing chile. Here's a few pics I took along the way, though I don't think they really show the scale of the undertaking...(and pardon the terrible lighting)...

the full case of roasted chiles

peeling round one

still peeling...

round two: peeled, ready to seed and dice

all diced and nearly ready to freeze

Now, our freezer is packed, and we should be well-stocked for the next year. Totally worth it! (I just had a green chile turkey burger for dinner tonight--so delicious!).