My First Step...The Hatch Green Chile

My grandfather was a very influencial person in my life. I remember him explaining to me what the green chile was all about. In his backyard in Canyon City, Colorado he grew multiple varieties of peppers and chiles. He liked them hot and from a cousins' dare that I so niavely took I can tell you it was most definantly his Scotch Bonnet pepper. He could never get his green chile hot enough so he would import a beautiful pepper from a moderatly growing community 40 miles north of Las Cruces. The city is known as Hatch. He made a batch of his green chile weekly making enough chile for his "Grandpa's Special" which he ate every morning over his newspapers.

Hatch enjoys the distinction of being the home of "The World's Best chili pepper", according to a report by the BBC World News. Hatch chile is best prepared by roasting over an open flame. Each year during chile season, dozens of chile vendors can be found lining the streets of Hatch roasting the local chile.

Green chiles are those that are picked unripe; they are fire-roasted, then peeled before further use. Unlike the ultra-mild canned supermarket green chiles, New Mexico green chiles can range from mild to (occasionally) hotter than jalapeños, and come in grades of spiciness at markets that cater to chile aficionados. The climate of New Mexico tends to increase the capsaicin levels in the chile compared to other areas.

To understand the Grandpa's Special, you first have to understand grandpa's green chile. With it never being written down, I have had to write a recipe from memory and built solely on what I saw him do and explain in his kitchen. Even though I have gone through numerous revisions and will go through a few more I'm sure, the recipe is very close to the exciting flavor and the awesomeness of the spice.
Grandpa's Green Chile

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds cubed pork stew meat
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 Hatch green chilis charred, peeled and rough chopped
1 scotch bonnet pepper halved
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 3 oz can fire roasted tomatos diced
3 1/2 cups water
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cloves of garlic diced
Juice of 2 limes
salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
In a plastic baggy add cubed pork, vinegar, garlic and tomatos.
Marinate overnight in the refridgerator.
Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Remove pork from marinade and pat dry on a paper towel. Put marinade aside.
Lightly dredge pork in the flour and lightly pat the excess off the pork. Add pork to skillet. Cook pork, turning once, until cooked through about 15 minutes.
Remove meat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
In the same skillet add marinade and bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Add water and bring back to a slow boil scraping bits off the bottom of the skillet.
Add chile peppers, skotch bonnet, onions, and salt and pepper
Reduce heat to medium and reduce 25% to the consistency of guacamole.
Remove scotch bonnet pepper.
Add lime juice

Makes 7 servings.

NewMexico.org



Wikipedia article

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