Green Chili Season

We are coming in to the green chili season which means roasting spots are starting to pop up all over town. The aroma is difficult to describe if you've never smelled fresh roasted mild, green chilis. It's a sweet and spicy slice of sunshine, wafting across Santa Fe.

All of my out-of-town clients are subjected to a green chili immersion which has produced many rabid green chili fans.

What you need are an assortment of freezer bags, the green chili's fresh from the roaster and a couple of simple recipes. When you bring the chilis home, divide them into small and large meal portions, bag them and put them in the freezer. I leave about six out for meals I'm going to prepare in the next two days. A small meal is two to three chilis and a large meal like a Shepard's Pie will use about six chilis. Leave the skins, seeds and stems in place.

First up on the list is scrambled eggs with green chili's and cheese for breakfast. Take about three chili's, and if they are frozen, they soften up quickly under cool running water for a couple of minutes. Under water, split them open with your hands and wash away the skins (which are mostly black) and the seeds. Cut away the stem and chop them up into pieces. I saute the chilis for a minute in butter before I throw in the eggs and cheese.

Lunch consists of the chilis as prepared above on a burger with or without a slice of cheese. Heaven is a green-chili burger at Bob Cat Bite on Old Las Vegas Highway. Their website even has a video: http://www.bobcatbite.com/

Dinner is green chili Shepard's Pie. My recipe is plebeian but it is a family favorite. You need a frozen deep dish pie shell, ground beef, a jar of chicken gravy, a can of corn and a tub of store bought Country Crock mashed potatoes. Prepare the chilis and saute them with your beef. Drain the pan and add a half of the jar of gravy. Layer the beef mixture in the pan, with a layer of corn on top of that. Take the potatoes and if you want to spiff up the taste and the consistency, mix in a little 1/2 and 1/2 with some butter, salt and pepper. Smooth on the potatoes over the corn until the whole pie is covered. Drizzle on some melted butter, salt, pepper, paprika and put it in the oven. 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Back to the freezer, your chili's will get you through the year, so lay in enough to last!