I love New Mexico this time of year. The nights and early mornings are starting to get cooler. Oh it still gets plenty hot during the day but you can feel fall in the air. That’s not the only reason I love early fall, the real reason is the Green Chili Harvest!

It’s almost as if the whole state smells like Green Chili roasting. That’s because it is! Almost every corner of every city has someone set-up with a drum roaster (the best way to go if you are buying it by the sack) and stacks of 30# sacks of Green Chili.

Folks lined up to buy their yearly supply of the (in my humble opinion) best Chili grown in the world. Just step up and pick your choice of mild, medium, hot or my favorite, extra hot.

The aroma is hard to explain. Mouth watering to say the least. You can smell the Chili from blocks away. Surely something to put on your bucket list. (grin)

All right, let’s get down to roasting those dark emerald green beauties. First, get all the tools you’ll need.

• Let start with some disposable plastic gloves, the cheap ones work pretty well. We don’t want to get the capsasin all over our hands. And as a side note, try to make a potty stop before you begin, you might forget to wash your hands if you go later and that would not be a good thing…
• If I’m only roasting a small amount of Chili, I have found that using a barbeque grill works great. You can do this on your stove top by using the burners but it tends to make quite a mess when the Chili starts blistering and the seeds begin to pop.
• If you are the brave, macho type, you can turn your chili by hand; I use a set of tongs myself. (remember, seeds popping, hot chili juice coming out of the blistering) Just saying…
• A large plastic bag. You will be placing the roasted chilies in here to sweat and steam for a while. So size it for the amount of chili you have.
• A box of those zipper-top freezer bags, the sandwich size.
• An old towel.

OK, I think we’re ready to get started. Oh, one more thing, no little kiddos around. Remember, safety first. If you have a baby, have someone there to take care of him or her. No diaper changes or no touching sensitive parts, the baby or yours, when you have been handling chili! Not a good thing. Just covering your butt and mine.

Get the grill good and hot. Leave any stems on the chilies; it makes them easier to turn. Place as many chilies on the hot grill as you can without crowding them. Now, you’re going to have a lot of great smelling smoke, that’s normal. (Did I mention it smells great?) Like I said earlier, the seeds will start popping so be careful. (Long sleeves will help)  You did remember to put on your plastic gloves right? Good.

As the chili starts to roast, turn it to a fresh side. Do this often so it cooks evenly.  Keep turning it and the skin will darken and start to blister, that’s a good thing. Once the skin starts to get black in areas, and it’s OK when it does, you can remove it from the grill. Don’t take it off to soon or the peel won’t be easy to remove. Place it in your plastic bag and put on the next batch. We’re having fun now ain’t we! Smells good don’t it? Told ya.

When you have roasted all of your chili, close the plastic bag and cover it with an old towel to keep it warm. Let is sweat and steam for a while. (It makes the peeling and seeding much easier) Timing here depends on the individual. Some say 10 – 15 minutes. I leave mine for at least an hour, sometimes two if I’m having a beer to relax. Hey, we’ve been working hard with all that roasting, we deserve a beer, right? (Or two) You did wash your hands right? Good, or else they might start calling you hot lips! (burp)

Now, once your chili has steamed for while, we have to make a decision. Do we want to peel it and seed it and chop it now? Or, do we just bag it and freeze it now then peel and seed later when we are going to use it? Myself, I always choose the later. Just seems easier to me. Either way is fine.

I like to bag my chili in small bags that are just the right amount for a meal. I have found that between 5 and 7 chilies to a bag works good for me. Sometimes I get chili that is so hot I wish I had only put 2 or 3 in the bag but that doesn’t happen very often. You can peel the skin off a few and taste it. Then decide how many you want in a bag. After you taste, wait a few minutes for the flavors to come out in your mouth.

Open the plastic bag; looks pretty nasty in there don’t it? Never fear, looks are deceiving, it’s great. You do have your gloves on right?

I do this part in the sink, cause it does get a little messy but it really is worth it, trust me, just catch any chili skin and seeds in your sink strainer so you don’t clog up your pipes.

Place the bag in the sink and tear a hole in the bottom of the bag so the juices can drain out.

Now you just start putting the chilies in the freezer bags and set it aside to cool. Once the bags have cooled to room temp, flatten them a little and store in your freezer.

When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw, then under running water, peel and seed them. Only takes a few minutes. Chop them any way you like. Long slices to go on green chili burgers or chop fine for a pot of chili and beans. Your choice. I use it in everything from meatloaf to scrambled eggs and anything else I can come up with. Enjoy the best green chili you ever had.

It’s an experience you won’t soon forget but watch out, you just might find yourself looking forward to next year’s harvest as much as I do.

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,
Chuckwagon

Hi all, yes I’m still alive. Been recovering from a little heart problem but all is fine now. To get back into the cooking grind, how about we start with a couple of guest posts from my Grand-kids. They are from Idaho so don’t expect any hot southwestern tastes from them. LOL

Dawn’s French bread

I hope you enjoy my bread.

1 c. warm water

1 pkg. yeast (2 and ¼ tsp.)

1 Tbs. Sugar

Get a large bowl & pour water into it. Sprinkle yeast & sugar into the bowl and mix. Let sit until it bubbles then add;

2tbs. of oil (olive oil preferred)

1 tsp. salt

Approx. 3 cups flour

Stir 1 c. of flour in yeast mixture, mix well with hands and add 1 more c. of flour and mix well, add another c. of flour and mix until  the flour is mixed in. Sprinkle some flour on the counter or on the table and knead, when you are done kneading make sure the dough is shiny, feels soft,  and is no longer sticky.

Put dough in a large bowl. I heat up the oven to 1oo degrees and put the dough into the oven for 15 minutes & when 15 minutes is over make sure the dough is double the size it was before you put it in the oven. Take out of the oven and knead it to squish all of the air out and make into a loaf shape and put on a cookie sheet with parchment paper and heat oven to 375 degrees  and bake for 25 min. And right before  you put the dough in the oven ,dress  the dough with  beaten egg whites and cut diagonally just deep not enough not to let any air out  and dress with more egg white and if you want put some sesame seeds on it and put in the  oven and let it cook for 25 min. and…

DIG IN!

Simon’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have fun and enjoy the cookies.

2¼ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup soft butter

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

12oz chocolate chips

1 cup nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside. Cream butter, sugars  and vanilla. Add eggs. Gradually add flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and/or nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes at 375.

First off I would to apologize for being gone so long. Been under the weather for too long. I guess time flies when you’re miserable as well as when you’re having fun. Almost back to normal now, what ever that means.

How about a southern favorite with a southwest twist? I’m talking about Green Hushpuppies. Now I have to tell the truth here, the first time I heard of these, they didn’t sound all that good. But one taste changes your mind. So let’s get going…

• 2 cups of corn meal
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 small onion – finely minced (if you like em, if not leave them out)
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 egg – well beaten
• 1 can of chopped green chili (you already know I prefer the fresh ones)
• 2 tablespoons of melted shortening
• enough oil for frying

Blend all the dry ingredients together. Mix together the milk, beaten egg, onion, chili and shortening. Add the dry ingredients; you should have a thick batter.

Drop the batter by teaspoons full into hot oil. Cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Serve these warm with whatever main dish you may be having. Enjoy!

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili

Chuckwagon 505

PS. Make some extra because I have found out they are great dipped in Blue Cheese Dressing for a late night snack. I know I’m sort of strange, but trust me; they really are tasty that way.

Ok, I realize this is not the time of year for soup. Well I guess some of you do live where it’s getting cold now. So whether you are cold or hot, this soup hits the spot…

• ½ lb of bacon – diced
• 2 cups of frozen corn (thawed) or 1 can of cream corn
• 1 large potato – cubed
• ½ an onion – diced
• 1 can of chopped green chili or 4-5 fresh seeded and chopped
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• ¾ cup of water
• 3 cups of light cream or milk
• salt to taste

Cook the bacon. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Remove half of the drippings. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the potato and water and cook until tender but not mushy.

Process the frozen corn in a food processor or blender until broken up but not a puree. Add to the potato mixture along with the mushroom soup, green chili, the cream and salt.

Simmer on low for 10 – 15 minutes. Adjust salt if necessary.

Garnish each bowl with the bacon bits. This soup goes great with corn bread or just tortilla chips on the side.

Enjoy!

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505

I’m in the mood for a salad today. We call this a New Mexico Chef Salad. I don’t know why, I guess because it has a lot of ingredients, we’re in New Mexico and it taste awesome…

• 1 lb of ground beef or pork. (I like to shred leftover pork roast to use in this. Taste better in my opinion.)
• 1 16oz can of pinto beans or black beans – drained and rinsed.
• 1 16oz can of whole kernel corn – drained
• 1 can chopped green chilies (fresh are better if you have them)
• 1 cup of sliced black olives (reserve a little for garnish)
• 1 cup of your favorite cheese – grated
• 2 cups of crushed tortilla chips
• 1 head of lettuce – shredded
• 1 cucumber – peeled and diced
• 3 tomatoes – diced
• 2 avocados – 1 diced the other sliced for garnish
• 1 onion – diced (optional)
• Dressing of choice (I like to get a container of Green Chili dip, add just a little lime juice to loosen it up a bit, and pour it on. But that’s just me.)

Brown the ground meat in a nonstick skillet. Drain off the fat. Add the beans and chilies. Add salt to taste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl. Lightly toss the avocado, cheese, olives and chips into the lettuce mixture. Add the meat and beans. Mix lightly again.

Garnish with sliced avocado, some of the sliced black olives and sliced tomatoes. Place some tortilla chips around the edge so it looks pretty. Chow down and enjoy!

If you ain’t sweatin it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505