Posted: 8/19/2017 7:29:36 PM EDT
As Robert Duvall said in Apocalypse Now, "nothing else in the world smells like that".  It's that time of year, the green chiles are coming to market. My grocery had some of the Pueblo Mira Sol chiles on sale, so I bought a bagful the other day. I didn't feel like firing up the grill for a relatively small quantity, so I tried roasting some in a dry cast iron skillet the other night. I managed to smoke up the house to the point of setting off the smoke detector, and ruining the seasoning in my skillet. I made green chile cheeseburgers, though, and that made it all worthwhile.  I roasted the rest tonight, and tried it directly on the coils of my electric stove. Zero smoke! The house still smells wonderful, though. I'm letting them steam in a bag for a while, then will peel and use or freeze the rest of them. I learned something today.
What's really great is when the chile roasters show up on local street corners. They roast them in big gas fired mesh drums, a bushel or more at a time. The smell permeates the neighborhood. And again, nothing else in the world smells like that. Green chile cheeseburgers, chile rellenos, green chile and cheese omelets, green chile with pork, mmmmmm! Pueblos, Hatches, grow your own, knock yourself out!
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The timing of this thread is perfect: Wife is roasting some Hatch green chile in the oven as I post this. These were supposedly grown in Mesilla Valley near Las Cruces.
Last year, we purchased two cases of Young Guns Produce green chilis at Winco which the Domesticated and Obedient Latina housewife roasted and stowed away in freezer bags (while barefoot), and we still have a few bags left over. Tonight, it'll be green chile bacon cheeseburgers con BBQ sauce, mayo, mustard, tomato, pickles, onion, & a cold beer. Mmmmmmm...... Late Summer / early Fall is the season for green chile in The Land of Entrapment, and there's nothing better than smelling green chilies roasting outside the supermarkets in August and September. This is the best time of the year in my beloved adopted home state of New Mexico. |
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I got turned onto the joys of green chile cheeseburgers while driving down to Las Cruces/El Paso for the annular solar eclipse there in 1994. My neighbor Miguel, who grew up in Deming, NM, went along for the ride. He had me stop in some small town along the way, to have lunch at some little drive in. I think it was Blake's LotaBurger. They lay whole roasted and peeled green chiles atop their burgers. Heaven on a bun.
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