Saturday, September 15, 2012

Hatch Chiles Have Taken Over The Parking Lot

Mena's peppers
The Hatch chile event at Wegmans run through Sunday, and it permeates much of the store.

A roasting machine and tent set up in the parking lot.  Roasted and fresh chiles in produce.  A cream cheese spread in the cheese section.  Even a "floral" arrangement of chiles by the florist.

Roasting in the parking lot
The smell flows right off the roasting tent into the parking lot as you walk to the store. I admit that I passed on the 23-pound box, but mostly because I overbought in the tomato and peach fields last month.  One quixotic canning event is cute.  Two is a problem husband.

But Mena paid $39 for 23 pounds of fresh peppers, which they'll roast for you as well.  Mena reports:
My peppers are are chillin' in the freezer now. House smells amazing.  I put about four peppers in each bundle. When frozen, I will put them in a ziplock. The rest are in the basement freezer.  Bought a pork shoulder and will probably make chile verde.  Couldn't remember what ingredients I needed except tomatillos -- so will have to make another trip.
Wegmans in Columbia is selling two varieties of Hatch peppers -- a spicy and a mild.  The roasted spicy pepper has a real bite, but it's all delicious.  You can buy everything from a few peppers up to the 23-pound boxes.  They're only available for about a month in the fall, so people freeze them like Mena in small batches to pull out for salsas, chili, and all kinds of Southwest dishes.

3 comments:

Baltimore Beer Guy said...

MUST DO: make green chile burgers like from New Mexico. Standard burger but top with the roasted hatch chiles and some cheddar. DELICIOUS and an absolute staple of New Mexico cuisine.

Zevonista said...

Funny that BBG should mention green chile cheeseburgers - that's EXACTLY what I made Sunday night! Having lived in NM for five years, I was thrilled that Wegman's was roasting Hatch chiles this weekend. Bought a few pounds, and already used up most of them on the cheeseburgers and some green chile stew.

That's what I miss most about NM - the green chile and blue skies...both of which were in abundance this past weekend!

S. said...

Thanks to Howchow's post about the Hatch Chile event at Wegmans, we were able to order 25 lbs roasted - most now safely in the freezer but some already enjoyed this past week in green chile stew, green chile egg squares, green chile chutney, as well as in homemade burritos.