A “Hatch” New Mexican pepper it must be grown in the area of Hatch, New Mexico. It is not a variety. There are four main types:

Mild: NM 6-4

Medium; Big Jim

Hot: Sandia

Extra hot; Lumbia

The mild and medium are what is usually sold commercially and most recipes are based on those. Be careful with the hot. They are blazing.

Until the pepper is cut, there doesn’t seem to be a way to tell the heat level. Local markets sometimes mix the medium and hot together … Hatch roulette. For safety, ask for peppers from an unopened box. Better yet, buy a whole box. They freeze beautifully.

Choose chiles that are bright green, smooth, symmetrical, heavy for their size, mature and crisp

Because of the thick skin, the whole peppers are often roasted and the skin removed. The most common methods:

– In the oven or broiler until skins blister … about 7 minutes at 450 degrees

– Grill outdoors until skin blisters

– On the stove, use a heavy pan and on high heat, roasting for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally until skin blisters

If roasting in a pan or oven, select peppers that are flat and straight to increase surface area exposed to heat. Chiles that curl up tightly are difficult to blacken

Peppers last longer in the freezer with the skin protecting them and the skins will come off easily after thawing. Bacteria can grow on the peppers, so they should be frozen within a day of roasting and thawed in the fridge.

Affinities: cumin, sour cream, cheese, pork, eggs, chorizo, tomatoes, garlic, onion, corn, potatoes More info and recipes can be found in this Chowhound topic

Not your usual Hatch New Mexican green chile recipes … Hatch vodka, pie, kugel, mashed potatoes, calabacitas, etc. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/434370

  • Total: Depends on method and quantity used

Ingredients (1)

  • Hatch chiles

Instructions

  1. Use rubber or protective gloves when handling chiles.
  2. Roast until the skin is black and blistered, but NOT charred. If roasted too long the whole chile can burn or get mushy
  3. Put hot roasted peppers in a plastic or paper bag and wait till they cool then skin and remove seeds
  4. The reason for putting them in bags after roasting is to let them steam and loosen the skins.. Covered plastic storage containers may also be used for the cooling/steaming step.
  5. Tip; Use bottle paper bags–the tall narrow ones that stores pre-wrap glass bottes in before putting on the larger bag. Their small size allows for good steam buildup
  6. To jump-start the peeling process is give the chile a rubdown with a sheet of newspaper/papertowel/dishcloth. This will remove the majority of the skin.
  7. To peel do NOT run under water to remove skin. you lose not only the smoky flavor but lots of the fragrant and tasty oils!. So for all your work, all you’ll end up with is a slightly soggy, peeled chile.
  8. Remove skins and seeds by hand. Your fingers will get messy. Run water over your HANDS not the peppers to clean as necessary.
  9. While freezing skin-on may make them last longer, peeled and seeded peppers last for quite a while in the freezer. They may be chopped and frozen in ice cube trays for ease of use in recipes.