Hatch Green Chile Sauce

By nature, I am a planner. I plan out everything. I plan what I need to do and when, what I want to wear and, of course, what I am going to cook.  I don't like to have to go to the store multiple times so I usually plan out the whole week and make a list of everything I need before going to the store.

However, there are rare spontaneous moments when I either can't think of anything to make or just happen to go to the store on my way home, I'll just walk through the produce, seafood, and meat departments to see what looks good, is on sale, in season, etc. This is how I came up with this recipe.

Hatch green chiles come from Hatch, New Mexico and are in season this time of year--late August, early September. My dad grew up in New Mexico and loves New Mexican cuisine, so when I saw the Hatch chiles in the store, I got them in hopes of coming up with something delicious for us, for him and for you!

This sauce can be used in so many ways. I poured it over grilled chicken, mixed it in with scrambled eggs for Steve and even chilled it and ate it with tortilla chips.  Let me know how you use it!



Ingredients:
3 hatch green chiles
2 jalepenos
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T flour
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/8 t ground cumin
1/8 t cayenne pepper
salt & pepper, to taste

First you need to roast the chiles and jalepenos. Green chiles can have a bitter taste in the skin, so roasting the peppers first will get rid of that taste because you'll remove the skin. To roast, you can either hold the peppers over your gas stove, throw on the grill or broil in your oven. You'll want to roast the peppers until the skin blisters and chars. If roasting in the oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a foil lined sheet pan, drizzle peppers with one tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for twenty minutes, flip chiles and jalepenos and roast for an additional 20 minutes. Place the charred chiles in a brown paper bag and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes. This will allow them to steam and will make the skin come off easier. Cut off stem, slice lengthwise and gently peel the skin off and remove seeds. Chop into small pieces.

In a pan over medium, heat olive oil. Add onion and garlic to the pan and sauté for one minute. Add green chiles and jalepenos and sauté another two minutes. Add flour and stir to distribute. Cook out raw flour taste for about one minute. Add chicken stock to the pan, scraping up and browned bits from the bottom. Stir until smooth. Add cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.  Bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally. When it comes to a boil, reduce to a low simmer. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes.

If you'd like a smoother texture, blend with an immersion blender until you get your desired consistency . If  you don't have an immersion blender, cool sauce and pour in your blender and blend until you get your desired consistency. Make sure to cool the sauce or you might blow the top off your blender and have a giant mess! :)

I hope you enjoy this sauce! Let me know what you think! If you like it, I'd suggest making a big batch and freeze it for when the chiles are out of season.