Last week I was hustling sauce and rub at the local growers market and the air was permeated with the aroma of fresh roasted green chile. There were two roasters going and my booth was situated right between them. The smell was absolutely divine, not to mention, great for green chile rub sales. I was able to break away from my booth for a few minutes to purchase my sack of roasted green chile magic.
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| Bacon Dawgs Topped with Green Chile |
The chiles are roasted in a giant basket that rotates in front of a row of gas burners. The line of flamethrowers chars the skin of the chile and roasts the fruit inside in a matter of minutes. After the roasting, the chiles are dumped into a plastic bag to steam and finish cooking. As the chiles steam, the skin loosens from the pepper and makes it much easier to clean. When I got home, it was time for the dirty work. I donned my latex gloves and cleaned the skin and seeds off each chile. It’s a tedious job, but well worth it.
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| Green Chile Roaster |
Once my chiles were cleaned it was time to start cooking up a basic green chile sauce. Green chile sauce is the basis of most green chile dishes or can be use to top just about anything, such as burgers, hotdogs and scrambled eggs.Green Chile Sauce
3 cups of chopped green chile
2-3 roasted & chopped jalapenos, optional
1 cup of chicken stock
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
2 tablespoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 teaspoon of white pepper
I heated up my cast iron Dutch oven on the Big Green Egg and added 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and the minced garlic. You don’t have to use a cast iron Dutch oven or a BGE; I’m just showing off. A deep skillet on the stove will work just fine. I sautéed the garlic for a few minutes until slightly toasted then added the green chile. I like a little more heat to my chiles so I added three chopped jalapenos, seed and all to the pot. Finally, I added the chicken stock, white pepper and salt and allowed the sauce to simmer for a few minutes.
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| Simmering Green Chile Sauce |
Now that the green chile has been transformed into a versatile and delicious sauce it can be added to anything that needs a little green chile. From soups and stews to toppings on burgers and hotdogs, just about anything can benefit from a heaping spoonful or two of green chile. I’m working on more green chile recipes, so come back next week and see what Kirk is cooking.
The smell of chiles roasting over coals is intoxicating and I only do a few at a time. I can only imagine what those smell like when so many are done. Heavenly I am sure!