Chile Today, Hot Tamale

I doubt that anyone who has spent much time in the southwestern United States isn’t familiar with Hatch chile. While New Mexico is home to several popular varieties of chiles, Hatch chile refers to those that are grown in the Hatch Valley, along the Rio Grande River. Chili connoisseurs say that the soil and growing conditions in the Hatch Valley are unique, as is the flavor of chiles grown there.

Fortunately, you don’t have to go to New Mexico to find Hatch chiles. This time of year, vendors all over the southwest have them for sale and they can usually be found not just visually, but also from the delicious smell of the chiles being roasted over an open fire.

Once they are roasted and peeled, green Hatch chiles can be used in many foods, from enchiladas and burritos to toppings on burgers, with rice, or in sauces. If the green chilies are allowed to mature they become red and are frequently used with a variety of Mexican dishes, including chile rellenos.

When I was in town the other day, I stopped by a place where a gentleman was selling the green chiles and picked up a ten-pound bag of the mild variety for Terry, fresh out of the roaster. I have very little sense of smell, but they definitely made my eyes water and my nose run on the drive home, where Terry was delighted to have them.

Because they were roasted and still warm, they were easy to peel, although it took her well over an hour to work her way through the bag of them.

Once they were peeled and cleaned, she separated them into one-pound bags to freeze, and I’m sure we will be enjoying some of them in her favorite Mexican dishes, including tacos and chałupa.

Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Ken Rossignol’s Chesapeake 1850 (Steamboats & Oyster Wars: The News Reader). The life of Ethan Aaron Douglas is chronicled as the ten-year-old joins his grandfather for a life on the Chesapeake Bay. With his grandfather as captain of a steamboat traveling between Norfolk, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, the boy learns quickly about life on the water. From hurricanes to blue crabs, life on the Bay changes quickly.

Learning Shakespeare and witnessing a hanging are just part of the life along the river. Ethan Douglas’ life brushes past major events in the United States, from slavery to the Underground Railroad and the days leading up to the Civil War. How did those who lived along the Potomac deal with active warfare during the War Between the States? Ethan’s younger brothers and sisters soon join him as they grow older and become entrepreneurs – and as the nation’s capital city grows and changes, the lives of the Douglas family become part of the history of the young nation. This book is the first in the series that will tell the story of life in the tidewater Chesapeake Bay region from 1850 to 1950.

To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books and audiobooks to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – If you do not make decisions for yourself, someone else will make them for you.