Back For More

It’s harvest time in New Mexico and Jen and I headed to Santa Fe for our friends’ wedding and a secret mission to return home with some of the finest green chile offered up by the “Land of Enchantment.” One of its most defining characteristics is the dominance of the New Mexican chile—in red and green varieties, depending on the stage of ripeness when picked. Last year was our first experience visiting during harvest season and picking up a 30lb bag of green chile peppers.

Remarkable to us both, was the presence of the smell of green chiles roasting throughout the streets of Santa Fe. Everywhere we went the smell followed us. And it smells so good! If you ever go, make sure to visit the legendary Cafe Pasqual’s.

Start with their famous Japanese shoshito pepper appetizers. Afterwards, you need to follow it up with something with green or red chile, or even both (the “X-Mas” mix).

This past winter our friends from New Mexico gave us a few special recipes, one of which we cultivated a pretty serious addiction to: Green Chile Chicken Stew. I’m convinced, there’s not a better post skiing meal! Only problem was, we went through our one 30lb bag of green chiles pretty damn fast. Thinking that we’re only about a month away from some serious skiing, we wanted to make sure we are properly prepared for the season ahead. So, we came Back For More.

We made it across the Colorado border with five 30lb bags of green chile. 150lbs total! Three bags of the medium strain referred to as “Big Jims” and two “X-Hot” bags. You could choose from mild, medium, Big Jims, X Hot, XX Hot and XXX Hot. After a 7 hour journey home, no rest was in sight. The real work was just about to begin.

I think we’re ready for a winter of Green Chicken Chile Stew? Ahh, the healing powers of the New Mexican green chile…

And if you want to check out a little video roasting action: ROAST Can you smell it? I can.