When it comes to roasted green chiles, you can’t put anything past Julie McIntyre.
The owner of Summerland Gardens, McIntyre is a purist. When it’s time to roll out the huge chili roaster, she tosses in only the best-tasting chiles for scorching. And those are the Big Jim Peppers from Hatch, N.M.
While you might have heard of Hatch peppers, that term doesn’t refer to a type of chili but the region where the chiles are grown. It’s the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico, down by Hatch and about 80 miles from the border with Mexico.
McIntyre says that farmers in that area have spent 130 years breeding chili plants to grow in that specific soil, climate and elevation, continually developing varieties that produce the meatiest and most flavorful chiles.
“Many consider them to be the best-tasting chiles in the world,” she said, “but I like them because they tend to be so meaty and there is a deep smoky flavor that I haven’t found in other chiles.”
The surrounding environment affects the final product.
“It’s like Kona, Hawaii, coffee or Vidalia, Ga., onions. The plant varieties have been bred to grow in those specific regions, with those exact conditions,” she said. “Kona coffee varieties might be grown elsewhere, but it won’t taste the same. Same with green chiles. Everybody grows Big Jims, but they were bred for the Hatch Valley, and that’s where they reach their full flavor potential.”
According to Jane Butel, a New Mexico-based cooking school teacher who has authored 20 cookbooks on the subject, “New Mexico has been home to the green chiles for eons and eons. In fact, green chiles have been so popular for so long, every man, woman and child on average eats over a bushel per person per year, resulting in almost no excess for export. Green chiles are a passion, almost an obsession with New Mexicans and almost anyone who has ever tried them.”
If you’ve picked up a bushel of the roasted gems, now is the time to clean and freeze them. But first, let the freshly roasted chiles rest in the plastic bag for at least 30 minutes. This will steam off the blistered skin. Don’t let them sit in the bag for more than an hour or two as chiles are highly susceptible to bacteria.
Always use plastic or latex gloves to clean peppers or else your hands will burn for hours. Store cleaned and seeded peppers in high-quality freezer bags, keeping out as much air as possible from the bags. Chiles will keep for a year in the freezer.
Susanna Holmes, an employee at Savory Spice Shop who teaches cooking classes at the store, offered some quick ways to spice up dishes with green chili. One of her favorites is adding them to scrambled eggs.