My New Mexican green chiles–three different varieties of them–are coming in right now, and I can’t stop myself from picking them and roasting them on my grill. The chiles have a tough skin, so for culinary purposes, it must be removed. A flame is the best way to do this, and grilling the chiles adds that special outdoor cooking flavor. Puncture a hole in each chile near the stem to let the steam escape, or the chiles might explode. Seriously. Grill the chiles until they look like the photo above, or even until they slightly blacken. Turn them for an even roast. Remove them from the grill to a plastic bag with a wet paper towel in it, and let the chiles “steam” and then cool for 30 minutes. Then remove the chiles, cut the stems off, remove the seeds, and use a dull knife to scrape off the skins. Then chop them coarsely and you’re done. The chopped chiles can be kept in the refrigerator for a week, or they can be frozen. We put them in cheese scrambled eggs for breakfast, on green chile cheeseburgers for lunch, and enchiladas with green chile sauce for dinner. Viva chile verde!
Roasting Fresh Green Chiles
