Roasted New Mexico Green Chile

Ahhhh. Fall is in the air! The auroma of fresh roasted green chile can’t be beat. You also can’t even compare the flavor of fresh green chile to that of store bought. If you are interested in buying your own green chile, here are some suggestions. First, go to a farmer’s market or produce store where you can buy a small bag of green chile to sample for heat and flavor.

Once you have found the chile that you like, you are ready to buy. Places that roast chile aren’t hard to find because you can smell them from far away and you will see a large black chile roaster outside. However, I have included a small list of places below. If you know of any more, please feel free to comment.

Usually a bag of chile is around $30. The bags are huge. After you have paid, you will usually go outside while they roast your chile. My chile always comes in a large trash bag which is double bagged. If you don’t want your car to smell like chile perfume, you may want to take a truck. I took my chile in my car, and it smelled for a few days, then went away. You may also want to take an old towel for the chile to sit on during the ride. My bag didn’t leak, but it never hurts to take precautions.

The hard part comes once you get your chile home. You should have a large space cleared to prepare the chile. You will need plastic gloves and plenty of freezer bags. I use the smaller bags so I can defrost them in smaller portions. If you are limited on time, you can freeze the chile with the skins and seeds – but then the work comes after you defrost them. I recommend doing everything at once so you enjoy your chile all year long. The skin comes off easily, then you cut the top, slice it down the middle and scrape the seeds away. I like a few seeds here and there, but to each his own. Once you have cleaned all the chile (which takes a long time, especially if you are solo), freeze the chile and thaw as needed.

DON’T FORGET TO WEAR GLOVES. I guess I like to learn the hard way because, even though I had gloves and had been told to wear them, I burned by hands twice because I didn’t think it felt hot when I was cleaning. The last time, my hands burned so badly that I couldn’t sleep. I tried every remedy I could find on the internet and finally just kept soaking my hands in ice water. Also, be very careful not to touch your eyes, face, or any other part of your body.