How Do You Spell Green Chile?

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There are certain times of the year that I miss New Mexico, the place of my childhood, so much.  This is one of those times… green chile time!

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You’ve probably heard about the green chile referred to as Hatch Green Chile?  The name of the chile is not Hatch… that is simply because they are grown in Hatch, New Mexico.  However, some of the best green chile you will ever taste comes from Hatch.  I have asked my mother and different family members why Hatch puts out such amazing green chile?  I get varying answers!  But nevertheless, Hatch Green Chile is the best you’ll every buy!

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My mom gave me some Green Chile seeds from a farm in Hatch a few years ago and I grew them in my garden here in Tennessee.  The plants were gorgeous, the chile peppers not so much.  I just don’t think it is hot and dry enough here in the South to grow them like they grow in the New Mexico low desert country.  The funny thing is that I will hear people here in the South say, “I grow green chile and it does excellent”.  And it does… if you don’t know what those Hatch, New Mexico Green Chile’s look and taste like!

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There are websites where you can order the chile, and I was thinking about it until I heard that Whole Foods in Nashville gets Hatch Green Chile in by the truck load.  I was in Nashville anyway, so I stopped at Whole Foods and sure enough I caught them as they were unloading the boxes.  I even recognized the name of the farm that was stamped on the box!  Yay!!!  I bought a whole bunch and brought them home to roast and freeze so I can enjoy good Hatch Green Chile all winter!

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For those of you that are not familiar with Green Chile and how to roast and freeze them, this little tutorial is for you.  And the next time you get a chance to buy the real deal, do.  I promise you, you will never go back!  So, here we go.

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After washing your peppers, pierce each one a few times with a knife (to keep them from exploding) and place them on a very hot grill.  You can also do this in your oven on broil, but I prefer the grill.

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You want to grill them until the skin turns black and blisters.  Then turn them over and do the same on the other side.  This doesn’t take but a few minutes on each side if your grill is very hot.

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While the peppers are grilling, fill a large bowl with ice water.  I use my very large enamelware bowl for this and it works great.

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Load your peppers up on a platter.  (An enamelware platter works great for this too.  Surely you know by now how much I love old enamelware right?!)  They will be soft and smell divine.

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Place them carefully into the bowl of ice water for just a few minutes. The ice water shocks them so that they stop cooking.  You want the skin to be cooked but you don’t necessarily want to cook your chile.  Some people place the cooked chile in a bag to steam them after cooking, but my Mom taught me to put them in ice water to keep them from cooking.

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Remove them from the ice water to a platter with a paper towel and pat the water off. You can place them in a zip-lock freezer bag and freeze them whole with the skins on.  When I was home in New Mexico caring for my Mom after a hip replacement (if you missed that post you can read it here), I pulled so many whole green chile out of Mom’s freezer.  You just run them under warm water and the skin literally falls off.

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Or, if you want to freeze them chopped then you proceed to remove the skins.  Which is a very easy process of just peeling off the charred skin.  I also remove the stem and rinse under cold water to remove the seeds.

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Stack them up on a cutting board.  (And it’s okay if you don’t get every piece of skin off.)

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Chop them up into nice little chunks.

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You can then freeze them in either zip-lock freezer bags or little plastic freezer containers.  I prefer the little containers.

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Simply spoon the chile into the little containers and pop them in the freezer.  I do not write the date on them as I know that they will all be eaten this winter.  And if not, they will last for another season in the freezer.

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Totally, amazingly, incredibly good in everything!

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So, now.  The question you’ve been waiting for.  How do YOU spell chile?

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I was always taught that green chile was spelled only with an ‘e’ at the end because that is the correct spelling in Spanish!  If you want to Americanize it then you spell it with an ‘i’ or an ‘ie’ on the end!

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No matter how you spell it, Green Chile from Hatch, New Mexico is the best.  Hands down!

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I found this little YouTube video that I just loved.  I thought you might enjoy it too.  My favorite part is the quote at the end.  The key to growing old and healthy…

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 “Work hard and eat a lot of chile”!

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I think my Momma and Daddy could attest to that… there isn’t a meal that they don’t have green chile on the table!

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Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.  (Maybe this winter I’ll do a post on my Mom’s wonderful Green Chile Enchiladas!)

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Dori 

  1. Esther says:

    Love this post, those green fields of chilies are beautiful! We sometimes get them here, our supermarket roasts them on a big grill in the parking lot.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Esther!

      Those green fields of chile’s really did look marvelous! I’m kind of wanting to go back to New Mexico about now!

      – Dori –

      P.S. I received your letter in the mail. Thank you SO much. It really made my day. xo

  2. Laura says:

    Love the info about chiles – so what do you use them in? You said your parents have the chiles for almost every meal. Recipes, please!

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Laura,

      My Dad puts either green chile or jalepenos on his eggs every morning, his sandwich or burrito for lunch, and probably 75% of the time my Mom fixes Mexican food at night since that is what they love and the part of the country they live in! 🙂 But you want to know one of the best things my Mom puts green chile in? Grilled cheese sandwiches! Oh how I love that! And of course it is wonderful in a hamburger. Or with a pot of pinto beans. Or on top of your scrambled eggs!

      – Dori –

  3. I would love a tasty, basic recipe for pork green chile that you eat with tortillas. A friend of mine used to make it and I forgot the recipe.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Diane,

      Oh my goodness. I love pork green chile and fresh flour tortillas. I’m pretty sure my Mom has a great recipe for that too. Maybe I need to write a post on a few green chile recipes! 🙂

      – Dori –

      P.S. I will ask Mom about a recipe and let you know!

  4. Joan says:

    You have totally whetted my appetite, we love ‘Hatch’s’ the most and fortunately we live close enough that they are sold in our area – already roasted too. So the chile will get made soon. Thanks for the web site – interesting. God bless

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Thanks Joan!

      Buying them already roasted would be great! Oh don’t you just love that smell in your car driving home with roasted green chiles? 🙂

      – Dori –

  5. Victoria Hall says:

    Oh Please….the recipe for Green Chile Enchiladas!!!!

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Victoria,

      I will get going on some green chile enchiladas and maybe get a post done sometime soon! 🙂

      – Dori –

  6. Nicole Christensen says:

    Hi Dori!
    I learned something new with this post! Being from Texas, I love, love, love anything with green chiles but never gave them much thought. I bet fresh ones are amazing! Your photos made my mouth water. I make a few recipes here but can only find canned, kinda mushy ones. When I go “home” I order my favorite Tex Mex…”green” enchiladas! Great post.
    Farmgirl Hugs,
    Nicole

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Thanks Nicole. Oh boy I bet Texas has some of the best Tex Mex ever! I’ve been to Texas many times but can’t say I’ve had the privilege of any Tex Mex food… going to make that a priority the next time I go! 🙂

      – Dori –

  7. Susan Coley says:

    I grew up eating Hatch green chiles before they were famous. Now they are everywhere. We eat the in everything. I find that the flavor gets hotter the longer you leave them in the freezer.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Susan,

      I did not know that about them getting hotter the longer they are in the freezer. That is good to know! Thanks for sharing!

      – Dori –

  8. Rowena Philbeck says:

    Thanks for the tutorial on Hatch chiles. I will have to do that next time we get them. Great way to freeze them. Thanks so much!!
    Rowena

  9. Winnie Nielsen says:

    Dori, my husband and I returned recently from visiting New Mexico for the first time. Neither of us had ever been there, but we had seen photos of such amazing beauty. We spent the week going from one state/national park to another and enjoyed seeing so much diversity. What a beautiful and different landscape!! I think two of my favorite places were White Sands and Carlsbad Caverns. Amazing!! The green chili in lots of foods was new to me. It was way hotter than what I am used to. LOL!! But I am sure a person gets use to the heat and then looks forward to having it in recipes.

    • Dori Troutman says:

      Hi Winnie!

      Yes… it is all about what we get used to isn’t it? I think the little New Mexican babies are given green chile in their bottles! Ha Ha! 🙂

      I bet your New Mexico trip was amazing. White Sands is just about the most incredible place. It’s been years since I’ve been to Carlsbad Caverns but it is quite phenomenal.

      Big hugs to you… thank you for always reading and commenting. It means a lot.

      – Dori –

      P.S. I missed the Apple Pie Sunday!!!! I was SOOOO bummed. 🙁

      • Winnie Nielsen says:

        HI Dori~ I am sorry you missed Apple Pie Sunday here at MJF!! HOWEVER, in my humble opinion, Tennessee Apple pickin’ is still on and I just betcha there are some apples at the local farm stand begging to come home with you for a pie. Besides, Apple Pie is good anytime you make one!! I am particularly fond of it for breakfast. LOL!! In my opinion, apple pie with some sharp cheddar cheese for breakfast IS the true blue Farmgirl Breakfast of Champions!!

  10. Yum ! green chile is in oour blood as New Mexicans! I love your John Deere illustration. We have saved many old farm equipment from the scrap yard…and vehicles…and rusty treasures.
    We are in the Datil mountains, ranching country.

  11. Cindy A. says:

    Ditto! About the only reason I miss Albuquerque is the food and the weather. If I miss NM at all it’s during the fall when the chiles are being roasted everywhere, and Christmas time when there are luminarias everywhere. We were there almost 8 years, and I learned to love green chile along with way too many other great New Mexican dishes, not to be confused with Mexican food for those who have never lived in NM. Even though we moved back to TN in 1995, we still tend to cook a lot of New Mexican cuisine. I find that interesting since I grew up in the south on beans, taters, and cornbread. I think including recipes in your posts is a wonderful idea! I vote YES!

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