It's Hatch Chili Time!

It's that time of year, Hatch Chili season, yay!! I just love these things. I ordered 2 30lb boxes this year to roast and then ferment. I sort of drool just thinking about it!

I did one box worth roasted in the oven and one box roasted over the charcoal BBQ. That gives me some plain chilis and some smoked ones. Both are delicious!

I use my broiler in the oven, but it can be done on the stovetop as well. I also use a charcoal BBQ to get that awesome smokey flavor. Any good heat source can work. They get all bubbly and toasted looking. The aim of this is flavor and to separate the skins from the pepper. Turn periodically to get the whole pepper done.

 

As they are done, I put them in a large, covered bowl. Plastic wrap helps keep the steam in, but is a pain to work with. I just use a large towel or two and it works just fine. They need to sit til cool in some sort of covered container. This step finishes separating the skins from the pepper.

Here's the whole batch done.

I usually stick it in the frig til the next day at this point just because I've just roasted 30 lbs of peppers and am ready for a break. Not necessary though.

Next step is to peel all the peppers, pull out the stems and seeds if so desired. I don't sweat the seed part too much. As you can see here, if you let them sit in the frig overnight, you end up with this wonderful pepper juice.

Now I dice them, put them in jars and ferment. You could also dice and can if so inclined. I prefer to ferment. It's easy to do. I just dice them, put them in a jar, add a bit if whey and some salt. Sometimes a bit of water as well. You don't want them free floating in the liquid, but not too dry either. Let the jar sit at room temp for a few days. How long depends on the temp. There should be some bubbles and often, if the jar is too full, liquid will overflow. I put the lid on and 'burp' it at least once a day. If you've let things set in the frig and have any of that yummy juice, be sure to add it to the jar as well!

After the fermentation, store in a cold but not freezing place. The frig works good. So does a root cellar. Use these as you would chopped green chilis from the store. The smoked ones are especially good on burritos, nachos, enchiladas, you name it!