================================================================

    ,,.
 oOOO**o+:,
   =Ooooo++o+:                                 ,==,     ,o*oo;
     ++ooooo*o++=;,                          ::-oO*-.;o&O,   :#.
      =oo**O*+;::=o+++=;:::-,.              ,=-:+0O0&&%,
       ;oo*O0Oo+==++*OO*+;=;;:::::::----, ,;;::;O0&#%%,
        ,o**O000O00000O*++*o++=;:---:--:-.;;:-,=O00#%@=
          ;*OOOO0&&##&00OOO*Oo+=:::::--;=+oo=;=O0&0%@@&
            -o*O0&##%%&&&&0OOo++==+==;;*00*==+*0&#&#&@+
               ;*0&&#&O0&#00o==o++++=+oO&O+;=oo0&&&&#0
                 .=O00OO00**+==+=+++=+oO&O+o*OO0###0-
                     -+O00Oo=;;;===++o*00000&#%%#o
                         ,;+**OOOOOO00&##%%%#&+,
                               ,=*O00O+=;:

================================================================
 ROASTING AND FREEZING HATCH GREEN CHILE
 Straight from the garden, for keeping all year
================================================================

WHEN
  Late August through September. That is the whole season, so
  when you see them, buy more than you think you need. Everyone
  who has ever said "a half bushel is plenty" was wrong.

HEAT LEVELS
  - Mild      good for people who are still learning
  - Medium    the honest default
  - Hot       what you actually want
  - X-Hot     what you claim you want in front of company

WHAT YOU NEED
  - Fresh Hatch green chile
  - A hot fire: propane roaster, gas grill, or an oven broiler
  - Tongs
  - A large bowl and a lid, or paper grocery bags
  - Freezer bags
  - Gloves. Yes, gloves. Ask anyone who has skipped this step
    and then rubbed an eye four hours later.

ROASTING
  1. Get the heat high. Chile wants to blister fast, not cook
     slowly. Slow heat gives you mush.
  2. Lay the pods out in one layer. Do not crowd them.
  3. Roast until the skin blisters and blackens in patches and
     the pod starts to collapse. Roughly 4 to 6 minutes a side
     on a grill, less on a real roaster.
  4. Turn them once. Both sides should have color. You are not
     trying to burn the flesh, only the skin.

STEAMING (do not skip)
  5. Move the hot pods straight into a bowl and cover it, or
     into a paper bag and roll it shut.
  6. Let them sit 10 to 15 minutes. The trapped steam lifts the
     skin off the flesh. This is the step that decides whether
     peeling is pleasant or miserable.

PEELING
  7. Peel them while they are still warm. After the steam the
     skins come away with your fingers, no knife needed. Pull
     the stems at the same time, and take the seeds out now if
     you want them milder. Leave them in if you do not.

FREEZING
  8. Portion into freezer bags in amounts you would actually
     use at once. A year of chile in one giant brick helps
     nobody.
  9. Press the air out. Without the skins there is nothing else
     standing between the flesh and freezer burn. Label with the
     heat level and the year, because by February you will not
     remember either.
 10. Good for about a year. It will not last a year.

USING IT
  Thaw and chop. The peeling is already behind you, which is
  the whole reason for doing it up front.

  Goes in: eggs, burgers, stew, mac and cheese, cornbread,
  anything with a tortilla near it, and at least one thing your
  friends from out of state will describe as "a lot."

================================================================
 Grown in a 20x40 plot in New Mexico. Fifteen rows, four
 watering zones, one very determined gardener.

 If you got here from an HTTP response header: well spotted.
================================================================