It's Chile Season. Can a Batch of Hatch?

Sep 11, 2021

Canning Chiles—Can a Batch of Hatch?

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I keep getting e-mails from a Chile grower/seller in New Mexico. They are selling the famous Hatch chiles. Hatch chiles are offered in hot, medium, or mild.  Pre-roasted, you got it. Make a choice of chopped or whole; they are shipped to you frozen. Also offered up are fresh chiles, green or red chile powder, canned chile salsas, frozen chile rellenos, chile wreaths and ristras (long strings of dried chiles), freeze dried chiles, dried chile powder. . . well you get the picture, right?

Any way, if I ordered some Hatch, it would probably be fresh. I love the smell of roasting chiles; it's almost as if I were eating them. Of course it is tantalizing to order some already processed and frozen as the heat of this time of year I would be very reluctant to have to roast a bunch. In any case, the recipes at the links below can be used with mail ordered chile products, back yard chiles, store bought (try a Hispanic or Mexican market for a good selection), or from a farmer's market. With luck you might find some at a local super market because, after all, it is chile season.

Chiles are good and good for you. Whether you like them mild or mouth-burning hot, try preserving some to add more spice to your food and diet.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E326/welcome.html   Home Canned Sweet Spreads Made with Green Chile. Some of these spreads look mighty inviting for a change of pace from regular ol' fruit jams and jellies.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E308/welcome.html   Canning Green Chile. If you can your own green chile you will have ready-made deliciousness waiting in your pantry. You can add them to all sorts of stuff.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E323/   Salsa Recipes for Canning. There are a variety of salsa recipes here:  thick and thin, green and red and a mango salsa thrown in for good measure.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E322/welcome.html   Drying Chile Peppers (scroll down, look for “Chile Peppers, Green” and “Chile Peppers, Red”). You gotta have dried chiles and chile powder around, making enchilada sauce is really quite simple and quick using dried chiles or chile powder.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E327/welcome.html   Using Chile to Make Ristras and Chile Sauce.

 

https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/CR517/   New Mexico Favorites: Chile and Pecans; a bunch of recipes using chiles, pecans or both.

 

 


By Lauria Watts
Author - Master Food Preserver