One of my good friends who moved away from my state last spring came back to visit this weekend. She and her husband came over this morning to pack green chile so they could use my freezer to get it frozen before they take it back to their state tomorrow. Her husband went to Walmart this morning to buy 2 big bags of green chile and have it roasted right there in the Walmart parking lot. You have to roast it so the skin will split and peel off. Then Walmart put it into big clear bags and put them back into the box. My job was to lay the chiles out on cookie sheets so they could cool. Then my friend and her husband just put several into a pint-size freezer bag, smashed the air out and sealed it, and wrote a "10" on it (for 2010). That's it. They got about 73 pint bags. Each bag had 4-5 green chiles in it. Some people finish skinning it and take the stem out and wash the seeds out and then freeze it, or even go on to chop it up and then put it in bags and freeze it. This was so easy, and my friends say they feel like it keeps it's flavor better with the seeds, stem, and skin flakes on it. They showed me that when you're ready to eat them, you take out a bag and defrost it. Then you take each chile out and wash it off and the skin washes right off. Then you pinch off the stem, split it open and wash the seeds away. Then you can chop it up and put it in casseroles or other dishes, on a sandwich or hamburger, or if you're a "real chile freak" - just eat it plain! Yum!
Even though I've lived in this state for 16 years, I've never learned how to freeze my own green chile. My house had this great "green chile smell" all day. This week I'm going to Walmart to get my own bag of green chile roasted. I met a guy once when I used to pick up a friend from dialysis that was from out-of-state. He used to live in my state but moved further west. He said that he and his wife were in town for one of their "chile runs". They bought an RV and gutted it. Then fitted it with as many freezers as they could fit in it. Then they come to our state and buy lots and lots of green chile, roast it, and pack and freeze it. Then they drive all over the western seaboard selling it. They mostly sell it to people who used to live here but have moved west.
Tonight I made sloppy joes. But I had a big piece of green chile to put on the top. Yum! The difference in the green chile you pack yourself and the stuff you buy in the can is: FLAVOR. Can't beat it!
3 comments:
We have chilis for sale out here, but I'm not sure if they are the same ones. How do I know which ones to buy?
that is a good simple idea - and so much cheaper than buying the can!
Makes my mouth water just reading about it.
They sell and roast those here as well, but we don't stop to get them. I would if my kids would eat them. Not worth it just for me. :o)
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