Thursday, September 2, 2010

Hatch chili peppers

Hatch is a small town in New Mexico, and the self-proclaimed home of the "world's best chili pepper." The Hatch Chili Festival happens there each Labor Day weekend, and over 30,000 chili lovers descend on the small community for entertainment and food. You can buy them in bulk over the Internet, and for a few weeks our QFC (Kroger) store has fresh Hatch peppers for the bargain price of $1 a pound. But there's a trick to cooking them...

Like all peppers of this variety, they have that pesky, thin skin that has to be charred and carefully peeled off. The outdoor grill works, or you can use a broiler or open gas flame. They're great for making chili rellenos, green pork stew or salsa. Or just eaten plain-- they're flavorful but not too hot. Don't turn your back on the grill; they will burn like lightening.
Peeling the skin off is a messy job.
Finally. They were good with marinated grilled pork. I'd like to have a year's worth stashed away in the freezer...but so much work!

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