Hatching new ideas & recipes

Hatch chile season is here! Ever since the blogger potluck 3 years ago, when this time rolls around I get giddy with excitement. I'm a mild hatch chile gal myself, and I love the slow, surprising heat they provide to dishes. This year, I created several tasty hatch dishes. Unfortunately I did a terrible job capturing them on camera (as in, I didn't), but please forgive me and try these anyway!

How to roast hatch chiles 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place chiles on a baking sheet and roast in oven 15-20 minutes. Using tongs, flip chiles over and roast another 15-20 minutes. Remove and place in a paper bag. Seal and let them steam in the bag at least 20 minutes. Carefully peel off the charred skin and they're ready to use!

Hatch Mashed Potatoes

3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes

1 cup low-fat milk

5 mild hatch chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

3 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel potatoes and cut into 2-inch pieces. Place in a large pot with cold, salted water covering it by 1-inch. Bring to a boil and cook until you can easily pierce it with a fork - about 30 minutes. Drain and keep warm.

Meanwhile,pour milk in a small sauce pan and include 3 hatch chiles. Warm to infuse the chile flavor, then add to a blender. Let it cool for a minute the pulse a few times.

Mash the potatoes with a masher, then slowly add milk, 1/4 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Add butter and season with salt and pepper to taste. Chop remaining 2 hatch chiles and stir into potatoes. Enjoy!

Hatch Chile Hummus

3 hatch chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1 can chickpeas

1 large clove garlic

1 lemon, zest and juice

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

Add chiles, chickpeas, garlic, lemon zest and juice, cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to food processor and pulse. Keep on and stream in olive oil through the feed until desired consistency is reached. Taste and add additional cayenne pepper for heat as desired.

Hatch Chile Ice Cream

Very slightly adapted from this recipe from Melissa's

8 hatch chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded, divided

2 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar, divided

1 vanilla bean (half lengthwise, remove seeds with a butter knife and reserve seeds and pod)

4 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium sauce pan, warm 4 hatch chiles, milk, cream, 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla seeds and pod. Stir constantly until hot, almost scalding.

In a standing mixer or small bowl with egg beaters, whip egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until thick - about 30 seconds on high. Add half of the hot milk mixture to eggs and stir, then add that mixture to the remaining milk mixture in the sauce pan and heat until thickened. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and stir in vanilla. Stir in remaining hatch chiles then refrigerate 2 hours or overnight (until chilled). Freeze according to ice cream machine manufacturer's instructions (my Cuisinart took about 25 minutes). This is surprisingly hot - enjoy!

Pork and Hatch Chile Stew

Inspired by Pork and Green Chile Stew in Food & Wine

3 pounds pork butt, fat trimmed

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

3 serrano chiles, seeded and diced

6 garlic cloves, sliced

2 cups vegetable stock (I made this for a friend who's allergic to chicken, but obviously you can use chicken stock here)

6 roasted hatch chiles, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Warm corn tortillas and basmati rice, for serving

After trimming the pork, cut into 1-inch pieces and season with salt and pepper. In a large dutch oven, heat the oil. Working in 2 batches, brown the pork in the touch oven, about 4-5 minutes per batch. Add all pork into the dutch oven once browned and stir in onion, serrano chiles and garlic and saute until veggies are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth and hatch chiles and bring to a boil, then simmer 25-30 minutes, until liquid is reduced by half. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed. Serve with cilantro, tortillas and rice. Enjoy!