I have a little problem. I'm addicted to cookbooks, food writing, recipe collecting, and cooking. I have a lot of recipes waiting for me to try them, and ideas from articles, tv, and restaurants often lead to new dishes. I started losing track of what I've done. So now I'm taking photos and writing about what I've prepared—unless it's terrible in which case I forget it ever happened.
At last, hatch season is here again. It’s a great day when I arrive at the grocery store to find piles and piles of these seasonal green chiles from New Mexico. There’s a stack of hot chiles and a separate one of mild ones, and all the products made with the chiles are tucked into every corner of the store. Our local stores also roast the chiles, and you can buy them roasted whole or already chopped. I kind of enjoy watching them blister on the grill, so I tend to buy the fresh, raw chiles and roast them at home. During their short season, I’m perfectly content to just toss chopped, roasted hatch chiles into pretty much everything I cook, but this year I wanted to stuff some whole chiles too. I pondered what to use for stuffing and what to serve with the chiles for a few days, and then I stumbled upon this omelet recipe which answered both questions. This is from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. The roasted, whole chiles are stuffed with goat cheese, and then they’re surrounded by eggs and cooked into a big omelet. Of course, the same concept could be achieved with stuffed poblanos or anaheim chiles, but it was particularly fun to use some beloved late summer hatch chiles in this.
I had already roasted some hatch chiles on the grill the night before I planned to make this omelet. So, all I had to do was peel the charred layer off the chiles, split each down one side, and remove the seeds. The cheese stuffing was a quick mix of crumbled goat cheese, chopped cilantro leaves, and sliced green onions. I doubled the original recipe and stuffed four chiles with the cheese mixture. The remaining cheese that didn’t fit in the chiles was whisked into six eggs. The stuffed chiles were placed in a saute pan with some melted butter and were warmed over medium heat. Then the whisked eggs were poured into the pan and all around the chiles. I thought ahead and realized the chiles might be a challenge to cut through when serving. So, I arranged the chiles with their tips pointing to the center so they would fit into four pieces of omelet without being cut. The eggs started cooking on the stovetop, and as soon as the omelet began to set, the saute pan was placed under the broiler until the omelet was golden and puffed.
I soon realized that this is not a particularly photogenic dish, but it was such a good idea I had to share it anyway. The stuffed chiles could have served as an hors d’oeuvre with some bread or tortillas, but they were divine in the omelet. The mild goat cheese with the fresh green onion and cilantro flavors mingling with the earthy, smoky chiles all embedded in a puffy omelet was genius. It was so simple but so delicious, and I never would have thought to do this myself.
For our Austin food blogger hatch chile potluck, I made a sourdough bread with roasted hatch chiles and roasted garlic in it. Luckily, the bread turned out fine, but since it was an experiment and I wouldn’t know if it seemed ok or not until the last minute, I also had a back-up plan. The back-up plan unraveled something like this: remember that asparagus lasagna I made back in March with the cream and parmigiano sauce? Yes, what if I made that with roasted hatch chiles and fresh corn instead of asparagus and then used Mexican cheeses instead of Italian ones? It sounded like an interesting flavor combination, but do you also remember what that lasagna looked like and can you imagine how it would look after being transported to a potluck and sitting out for a while? Right, so I started thinking of ways to combine those ingredients in another format, and that’s when I found the risotto balls recipe in Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook. Fried arancini would travel much better than a lasagna with cream sauce.
I made the risotto as suggested in the book, but at the end I added about seven hatch chiles that had been roasted, peeled of the charred outer layer, seeded, and chopped. I also added fresh corn kernels cut from two small ears of corn, and a couple tablespoons of chopped cilantro. Then, instead of using grated parmigiano, I grated a dry jack cheese and stirred it into the risotto. The finished risotto was left to cool and was then refrigerated overnight. There are a few steps to completing this hors d’oeuvre, but each of them can be spaced out and tackled when you’re ready. Once the risotto had completely chilled in the refrigerator, it was ready for forming into balls. For each, one tablespoon of risotto was formed into a cup shape into which a small cube of queso oaxaca was placed. Then, the risotto was gathered around the cheese cube and rolled into a ball. Once all the balls were formed and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet, they were refrigerated overnight. Next, the risotto balls were breaded with flour, then egg, then cornmeal. At that point, they could have been refrigerated again until ready for frying. They were briefly fried for two minutes or so in a saucepan with a few inches of hot oil.
The cornmeal made a nice crunchy surface which contrasted well with the oozing center. Sweet, fresh corn and smoky, roasted hatch chiles sidled up comfortably to the queso oaxaca. The flavor combination here was a good one, and I think the lasagna version will be just as good when I can serve it at home straight from the oven.
Every year at this time, we enjoy the arrival of hatch chiles from New Mexico. They appear in our grocery stores, and we look forward to using as many of them as we can before they’re gone for another year. Our nearby Central Market sets up big, rotating roasters, and the smell of chiles fills the parking lot. You can buy the chiles fresh or roasted and bagged, and they’re available in hot and mild. They’re also used in all kinds of products throughout the store such as hatch chile hamburger buns, hatch chile cheese, hatch chile sausages, etc. So, in honor of these chiles, and just because it had been too long, an Austin food blogger potluck was held on Sunday, and the dishes were to be hatch chile-themed. Now, the last time I attended a food blogger potluck, I decided I should only use tried and true recipes. This time I went another way, got a little experimental, and worried even more about what I made. My sourdough starter hadn’t been used for weeks, and I had never before shared any of my sourdough bread with anyone other than Kurt. So I chose to experiment with a hatch chile and garlic bread and let other people sample it for a change. I took inspiration from a roasted garlic bread by Dan Lepard and once again worked from the Breads from the La Brea Bakery book.
I followed the recipe for the Italian ring bread, but instead of folding chopped marjoram into the dough, I used chopped, roasted hot and mild hatch chiles and whole cloves of roasted garlic. This dough made use of both sourdough starter and fresh yeast, so I hoped it would have enough strength to rise with the vegetables I added. The recipe is written as a two-day bread, but there is a 12 hour waiting time on the second day. I timed it out to make it a three-day bread instead. Day one only required making a sponge from starter, bread flour, and water. On day two, the dough was made from the sponge, fresh yeast, bread flour, salt, olive oil, chiles, and roasted garlic. It started as what I thought was a slightly too dry dough, but after adding the vegetables, it seemed slightly too wet and sticky. I kneaded in a little more flour and crossed my fingers.
It went through the usual rituals of resting, kneading, fermenting, being divided, resting again, and then being formed into boules which were refrigerated overnight. On day three, the dough was brought up to room temperature and then turned out onto a board. A peel was floured so a boule could be loaded on it, and then a hole was cut in the center of the boule with a biscuit cutter. The hole was to be stretched to three times its original size, and the piece of dough removed was baked as a roll. Luckily, I baked one loaf at a time because the first one suffered from the hole not being made large enough. It closed in on itself like a giant bialy, but I got it right the second time. Of course, the oven was spritzed a couple of times during the first five minutes of baking, and that produced a crispy, crackly outer crust.
The interior was chewy and similar in texture to ciabatta although less open in structure. With the chiles and garlic, each piece of bread was almost a meal in itself, and I liked that about it. I think this bread with some cheese on the side would be great for a picnic. One loaf was taken to the potluck, and the other will be re-warmed and served with salad for dinner tonight. I survived presenting my homemade bread to a group of food bloggers, and they were even kind enough to say they liked it.
I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.
It’s hatch chile season, and that’s a great time of year. The hot and mild green chiles arrive in Austin direct from Hatch, New Mexico and much to my delight. I had an idea about cooking up a whole lot of red beans with freshly roasted hatch chiles and then using the beans a couple of different ways. The first meal was cornmeal crusted catfish with silky red bean puree. I previously wrote about the amazing food found in Susan Spicer’s Crescent City Cooking, and this meal is included in the book.
I chose a combination of hot and mild hatch chiles, roasted them on the stovetop, peeled off the char, and seeded and chopped them. The red beans soaked overnight and then were simmered with just water for a few hours. Once the beans were cooked, I set about adding all the flavor-packed items. If I had followed Spicer’s instructions exactly, chipotle and poblano were supposed to be added to the beans along with garlic, onion, tomato puree, chile powder, and bay leaves or bouquet garni. I used hatch chiles instead of the chipotle and poblano. After cooking with the added ingredients and becoming delicious, some of the beans were pureed in a blender with some cooking liquid and lime juice. Because the starchiness of the beans seems to absorb a lot of flavor and heat, the puree can be seasoned aggressively. I repeatedly tasted the beans and then the puree and continued to adjust the seasoning as I went. In the end, I think I should have included the chipotles too. Hatch chiles offer their own unique character, but the puree did lack that special, smoky quality that chipotles bring.
The only slightly negative comment I can make is that, unfortunately, this puree is not the most photogenic food item. It looks a little like a pile of brown mud sitting under the catfish. But, regardless of its humble appearance, the flavor was fantastic. The smooth texture made it like a thick sauce, but one with none of the heaviness or guilt of butter or cream.
The catfish was dredged in a cornmeal and flour combination which was seasoned with cumin and coriander. It was fried quickly in butter and canola oil. The catfish fillets then rested atop the silky puree and received a sprinkling of chopped chives. I was already a big fan of red beans, bean purees in general, and catfish, but this was a great meal. You really can’t go wrong with cornmeal crusted catfish, and served with this puree as sauce, the flavors are southwesternish by way of New Orleans. Interesting, bold flavors and hints of spice are delivered via contrasting textures.
What happened with the rest of the red beans? The next day, we grilled hatch chile chicken sausages and served them with the amazing red beans and some cajun popcorn rice. I have a feeling Hatch chile season is going to seem too short this year.
. The roasted, whole chiles are stuffed with goat cheese, and then they’re surrounded by eggs and cooked into a big omelet. Of course, the same concept could be achieved with stuffed poblanos or anaheim chiles, but it was particularly fun to use some beloved late summer hatch chiles in this. 
. Fried arancini would travel much better than a lasagna with cream sauce.
The cornmeal made a nice crunchy surface which contrasted well with the oozing center. Sweet, fresh corn and smoky, roasted hatch chiles sidled up comfortably to the queso oaxaca. The flavor combination here was a good one, and I think the lasagna version will be just as good when I can serve it at home straight from the oven.
I followed the recipe for the Italian ring bread, but instead of folding chopped marjoram into the dough, I used chopped, roasted hot and mild hatch chiles and whole cloves of roasted garlic. This dough made use of both sourdough starter and fresh yeast, so I hoped it would have enough strength to rise with the vegetables I added. The recipe is written as a two-day bread, but there is a 12 hour waiting time on the second day. I timed it out to make it a three-day bread instead. Day one only required making a sponge from starter, bread flour, and water. On day two, the dough was made from the sponge, fresh yeast, bread flour, salt, olive oil, chiles, and roasted garlic. It started as what I thought was a slightly too dry dough, but after adding the vegetables, it seemed slightly too wet and sticky. I kneaded in a little more flour and crossed my fingers.
It went through the usual rituals of resting, kneading, fermenting, being divided, resting again, and then being formed into boules which were refrigerated overnight. On day three, the dough was brought up to room temperature and then turned out onto a board. A peel was floured so a boule could be loaded on it, and then a hole was cut in the center of the boule with a biscuit cutter. The hole was to be stretched to three times its original size, and the piece of dough removed was baked as a roll. Luckily, I baked one loaf at a time because the first one suffered from the hole not being made large enough. It closed in on itself like a giant bialy, but I got it right the second time. Of course, the oven was spritzed a couple of times during the first five minutes of baking, and that produced a crispy, crackly outer crust.
The only slightly negative comment I can make is that, unfortunately, this puree is not the most photogenic food item. It looks a little like a pile of brown mud sitting under the catfish. But, regardless of its humble appearance, the flavor was fantastic. The smooth texture made it like a thick sauce, but one with none of the heaviness or guilt of butter or cream.
The catfish was dredged in a cornmeal and flour combination which was seasoned with cumin and coriander. It was fried quickly in butter and canola oil. The catfish fillets then rested atop the silky puree and received a sprinkling of chopped chives. I was already a big fan of red beans, bean purees in general, and catfish, but this was a great meal. You really can’t go wrong with cornmeal crusted catfish, and served with this puree as sauce, the flavors are southwesternish by way of New Orleans. Interesting, bold flavors and hints of spice are delivered via contrasting textures.
What happened with the rest of the red beans? The next day, we grilled hatch chile chicken sausages and served them with the amazing red beans and some