The wonderful aroma of green chiles roasting is filling the somewhat ashen skies that are normally brilliantly blue.  Though lots of folks like to get their chiles commercially roasted in big hail screen cylinders with blow torches blasting away at the peel of the chiles, I like to parch my chiles rather than roast them.  When you roast them, the chiles become cooked throughout and if not packed away and frozen quickly, they can be the source of  tummy aches from salmonella.   When you parch them quickly over a very hot gas flame such as in your outdoor grill or under an electric broiler, the skin parches and becomes dark brown.  Once parched the chiles then need to be chilled in ice water to stop the cooking.  That way the chiles have a great deal more flesh that is bright green and somewhat crisp, rather than light green and soggy, like they are when roasted in the commercial blow torch drums.

Once I have roasted some chiles, I like to drain them on towels..cloth or paper...and then place them on cookie sheets to flash freeze.  When solidly frozen, I transfer them to freezer weight bags, dating and labeling them.

We will be parching green chiles for a number of yummy dishes this Thursday evening starting at 5 PM for our Green Chile Fiesta class, which has always been very popular.  With the Covid issues, we still have a few openings if you would like to come.  In addition to parching chiles, we will be making Green Chile Stew from the very best award winning recipe made famous by former Senator Joe Montoya,  who won the Capitol cookoff many times with this recipe.  Also, we will be making a Green Chile Crusted Quiche,  Calabacitas , Blue Corn Crusted Chile Rellenos and Green Chile Apple Pie using my favorite French Pastry.

And--if you want to learn all these recipes and many more, there is still space in our online class, which has been extended a week.  The 40 session online "All About Chiles" will now start next Tuesday, September 22  With it, you will not have to travel and can learn so much in your very own kitchen.  The schedule is quite flexible.  New sessions will be released every few days which will allow you to set your own pace.  And we will keep the lessons up for a month after the series has been completed.

We also feature green chiles in our forthcoming, October 23-25 weekend class and our November 2-6 week long class.  All of our live in person classes are full participation in small groups. Other classes coming soon are our Tamale Roll class on October 8 and the Red Chile Fiesta set for November 19.

This is a great time for learning Chile Cookery while you have more time at home due to the Pandemic.  And learning  how to cook chiles adds tons of health to  you and your family.  What a treat!!

Here's another Green Chile Stew recipe that won the Best of Show award in a local Guildan Cookoff before the Chile Bowl a few years ago.   Also, I am sharing  a wonderful fall chowder recipe.

GILDAN GREEN CHILE BOWL CONTEST WINNER

This recipe won the first annual Gildan Bowl Green Chile Challenge recipe contest to benefit a local high school, Sandia High School in

Albuquerque, NM. I helped Gildan’s publicity group organize the judging and recipe contest. This was Gildan’s first sponsorship of the bowl game conducted in Albuquerque, NM on December 17, 2011.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

3 Tablespoons olive oil

3 pounds pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, excess fat removed

2 ½ teaspoons salt

Few grinds of black pepper

1, 28 ounce or 2, 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes (or, whole tomates, diced)

3 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 pound parched, peeled green chile, chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Vegetable broth or vegetable boullion or base, 2 cups or more to create stew-like consistency

1 teaspoon onion powder

2 ½ teaspoons salt

Few grinds fresh black pepper, to taste

1. Heat olive oil until hot over medium high heat in a 5 quart Dutch oven or stock pot. Mix pork pieces with salt and pepper, then add to hot oil in pot and evenly distribute across bottom of pan. Allow to brown without stirring. Then turn pieces of pork and add tomatoes and cover and cook for about 30 minutes.

1. Add green chile, garlic, 2 cups of broth, onion powder, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes. If thick, add more vegetable broth, and if thin, cook the potatoes with the lid off. Add potatoes and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings.

2. Add green chile, garlic, 2 cups of broth, onion powder, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes. If thick, add more vegetable broth, and if thin, cook the potatoes with the lid off. Add potatoes and cook for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings.

CORN AND BACON CHOWDER CHILI

The smoky flavor of bacon adds character to almost any chili, soup, or stew, and here, paired with corn and potatoes, it makes this chili extra-special. For a veggie version, simply skip the bacon, use 3 Tablespoons olive or vegetable oil to sauté the vegetables, and add a drop or two of liquid smoke.

Yield: serves 2 to 4

6 slices bacon, cut crosswise into ½ inch wide pieces

2 cups chopped onions

3 cups diced unpeeled russet potatoes (2 to 3 potatoes)

4 fresh green chiles, parched, peeled, stemmed, and chopped, or 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chiles

4 fresh red chiles, parched, peeled, stemmed, and chopped (see Note)

2 cups fresh, frozen, or canned corn (if fresh, cut from 1 large ear of corn)

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups whole milk

½ cup heavy (whipping) cream or evaporated skim milk

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Hot pepper sauce (optional)

1 teaspoon crushed caribe chile

1. Place the bacon in a large saucepan or pot over medium to medium-low heat, and cook until it is crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and set it aside.

2. Drain most of the bacon drippings from the saucepan, leaving just a thin layer on the bottom. Add the onions and potatoes and cook, stirring, until the onions are translucent and the potatoes are slightly browned around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Add the green and green chiles, corn, broth, milk, and cream and stir well. Add the cumin and salt, cover the pan, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Stir in the bacon. Taste the chili and adjust the seasonings as needed, adding hot pepper sauce to taste (you can also pass it at the table, if you prefer). Serve sprinkled with the caribe chile.

Note: If you can’t find fresh red chiles, chop 1 jar (4 ounces) drained pimiento strips and add several drops hot pepper sauce.

The spicy flavors of chili have always paired well with cornbread. This Pie is actually rather similar in taste to the Tamale Pie, page . It is lighter and differently flavored in that the cornbread is not as dense as the mush. You can use any leftover chili for this one.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 teaspoon butter

3 cups leftover chili

½ cup onion, chopped

¼ cup pickled jalapenos, chopped

1 recipe Bacon Crumble Cornbread, recipe page

½ cup Monterey Jack-Cheddar cheese grated mix

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Meanwhile, butter a three quart casserole or baking pan. Place the chili, onion and jalapenos in layers. Prepare the cornbread, recipe page omitting the bacon.

2. Place the cornbread on top of the chili. Then smooth out to the corners of the casserole. Sprinkle with the cheese and bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Variation: If desired a small cornbread mix could be used instead of the cornbread indicated above.