Once again, our grocery store (Fred Meyer’s) is selling chiles from Hatch, New Mexico. It’s the second year, and as soon as I had the chance I stopped in and bought a 25-lb. box.

At home, we bagged them and put them in the fridge so we could work on them in the evenings during the week. The process begins with washing, then roasting them on the grill. We’d done a load, inhaling the incredibly wonderful smell, before I tried one for dinner. Rose said that I looked surprised. My mouth certainly was. While last year the chiles we’d gotten had been so mild that they had almost no heat, these had more than I’d bargained for. They were downright painfully hot. So, rather than vacuum pack and freeze these as we’d done last year, we had to go with Plan B, which we also figured out in a similar pinch last year.

After roasting, the peppers are put into in a paper bag (closed up) for at least 10 minutes so they are easier to peel. Then you peel them, stem and seed them, and put them into the food processor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the food processor, chop the peppers up into a slurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, spoon the slurry carefully into small waxed cups for the freezer. I smooth the tops and leave enough headroom for a shallow layer of water (put on the next day when they are frozen) to prevent freeze-drying. Once they’re frozen, I fill ziploc bags with them and put them in a convenient place in the freezer.

These little powderkegs are wonderful — just enough for some of our recipes or with a little left over to have with chips and avocados. We finished up all of last year’s just a week before these new beauties arrived!

 

 

 

 

Update: Apparently too much chile can cause more than a little discomfort: This British chef temporarily went deaf from too much.