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Roasting Hatch Green Chiles

28 Oct

Just before I started this blog, one of the extra offerings for Bountiful Baskets was 30 pounds of Hatch green chiles.  I cooked with some tonight, so I wanted to go back and share the process of preparing the chiles.

I did not order them, but a friend did and was looking to share, so I hopped on the opportunity to get some.  I don’t use green chiles a lot, but the Hatch green chiles are supposedly some of the best, so I wanted to see what it was all about.  First, I had a hard time imagining what 30 pounds of chiles would look like, but apparently they come in a large burlap sack.  The second that sack was opened, wow, the smell of the chiles was amazing.  I got 5 pounds from my friend, as shown in the picture above, plus a few more in my basket that week.

Once I got them home, I washed and dried all of them.  I started up the grill, and put the chiles directly on the grill, in batches.

My backyard smelled amazing!  You want to grill them, turning every so often, until the skins are mostly blackened. The next step is to put them in a zipper bag or sealed container to let them steam for about 20 minutes.  This allows you to be able to get the skin off very easily.

Once you remove them from the container, you remove the blackened skin, and hopefully, it will just flake off easily using your hands.  (NOTE: When handling you chiles, you may want to wear gloves to protect your skin.)  Once the skin is removed, cut off the cap, slit open, and remove the seeds.  Dice, the chiles, then divide in containers for later.  I chose to put 1 cup of diced green chiles into snack size zipper bags.  I was able to get 7 1 cup bags of chiles out of the 5 pounds I started with.

I made a green chile mac & cheese with one bag, enchiladas with another bag, then put the rest in the freezer.  Before I put them in the freezer, I made sure to remove as much air as I could from the bag.  Tonight I pulled out one of the bags to make breakfast burritos, that also had onion, turkey breakfast sausage, scrambled eggs, and shredded Mexican blend cheese.

I used the large tortillas from Bountiful Baskets, and assembled them like I did for the Steak, Egg, & Potato Burritos.  My husband commented that these were the best breakfast burritos I’ve made for him yet, and wanted to know what I did differently.  Must have been those wonderful Hatch chiles!

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3 Ways to Cook Pumpkins

26 Oct

Apparently, there may be a shortage of canned pumpkin this year.  I’m not too worried, because luckily there is a local farm here, Dad’s Farm, that grows pumpkins.  They also have a petting zoo, a tractor ride, a hay ride, and other produce available.  We took the girls a couple weeks ago, and we got pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns and for baking.  We paid $20 for all of these pumpkins.

The 6 smaller ones are the ones for baking.  The smaller pumpkins tend to be sweeter, so that’s why they are good for baking.   I believe they are around $.60/lb at this farm, so the 2 larger pumpkins were about 25 pounds combined, the 6 smaller were about 8 pounds.  That works out to $4.80 for the 6 small pumpkins, which after cooking I got 7 cups of pumpkin for baking.  A 15 oz can of Libby’s pumpkin is 1 3/4 cups, so I have 4 cans worth of fresh pumpkin.  This works out to $1.20 for the equivalent of a can.  I checked the price at Fry’s Food Stores today, and 15 oz cans of pumpkin are $2.29, or $1.99 after you use your VIP card.   Preparing the pumpkins for baking is time consuming, so paying a little more for a can is probably worth the time savings, but if you can’t find canned pumpkin or like to do things like this (like I do) to get fresh ingredients, it’s worth a try to prepare your own.

I took the 6 pumpkins I had and prepared them 3 different ways, in the oven, in the steamer, and in the slow cooker.’

Pumpkin Puree for Baking

First thing, no matter your method, you need to wash and dry the outside of the pumpkins.  Then, cut each pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and innards.  If you want, set the seeds aside for roasting.

Method #1: In the oven

Preheat your oven to 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place pumpkins cut side down. Pierce the skin with a fork.  Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until skin has softened and easily pierces with a fork.  Flip pumpkins over and allow to cool.

Method #2: In the steamer

Fill the bottom of the steamer to the Lo water line.  Place pumpkins in the steamer, cutting up more if necessary to get them to fit. Cook in steamer for 30 minutes, or until soft.  Remove from steamer and allow to cool.

Method #3: In the slow cooker

Arrange pumpkins in slow cooker, cutting up more if necessary to get them to fit.  Add 1 cup of water to the bottom of the slow cooker.  Cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.  Remove from slow cooker and allow to cool.

Once pumpkins have cooled, scoop the flesh from the skin using a spoon into a food processor or blender.

Puree the pumpkin until smooth.  If there seems to be a lot of water in the puree, line a colander with paper towels and pour the pumpkin puree onto the paper towel.  Let sit to allow some of the water top drip out of the pumpkin.

Measure out 1 3/4 cups of the puree and put into a sandwich sized zipper bag, or whatever type of container you desire for storage.  Label, and store in fridge or freezer until you are ready to bake with it.

Now I need to get together all my pumpkin recipes to decide what to make.  I’m thinking Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins, Pumpkin Pancakes, and Pumpkin Pie so far.  Yum!

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Salsa Verde and Baked Tortilla Chips

25 Oct

After making Salsa Roja a couple nights ago, I had the ingredients to make Salsa Verde, but was out of tortilla chips.  I was going to head to the store because I needed a few things anyway, but decided since I had some corn tortillas still, I would bake tortilla chips with them.  Super easy, fairly fast to do.  Here is how to make both.

Salsa Verde

What you need:

1 lb tomatillos, husks removed (if you aren’t familiar with tomatillos, you can see them in this post, second picture, bottom left)
4 jalapenos, more or less depending on the level of hot you want
1 yellow onion, cut in half
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime

How you make it:

You can roast the ingredients 2 ways.  One way is to roast them in the oven, like I did the ingredients for Salsa Roja.  The other way is to roast them on the grill, like I did last night.  Place a piece of aluminum foil on your grill and heat up your grill. Place tomatillos, jalapenos, onion, and garlic on the foil.  Flip the veggies as they start to blacken.  Continue to cook until onions are translucent, and everything has started to blacken.  Remove from grill and allow to cool.  Then, add all of that plus the cilantro and lime juice to your food processor or blender and blend well.  Serve as desired.

Last night we had this with chips, but a lot of times I will put it over chicken in the slow cooker, then shred the cooked chicken for enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, burritos, etc.

Baked Tortilla Chips

What you need:

Small corn tortillas
Vegetable or olive oil
Sea salt

How you make them:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Cut tortillas into 6 pieces using a pizza cutter.  Spray or brush the foil with the oil.  Lay chips out in a single layer on the pan.  Spray or brush the tops of the chips with oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes.  If you bake 2 pans at a time, rotate the pans in the oven halfway through.  Allow to cool and serve.

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Salsa Roja

23 Oct

I have been making a lot of Roasted Corn Salsa, but since I don’t have corn, I decided to use some of my Mexican veggie pack ingredients to make some Salsa Roja.  I’ve made it a few times before, but I have been working on finding the perfect method.  I have been very close on the taste I want, but I came across this recipe for Salsa Roja and decided to give it a try, but on a much smaller scale than the recipe calls for.

 

Salsa Roja

What you need:

4 tomatoes
1 small onion
4 jalapenos (more or less depending on how hot you want)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of one lime

How you make it:

Cut tomatoes in half, onions in fourths.  Remove caps from jalapenos and cut in half.  Remove seeds if desired, this reduces some of the heat of the jalapenos.  Line a baking sheet with foil and add tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic, cut sides up. Roast in oven at 375 F for about 30 minutes, or until onions look translucent.

Allow to cool, then add to a blender or food processor.  Add cilantro, salt, and lime juice to blender or food processor.  Blend well.  Serve as desired.

 

I found this made about 2 1/2 cups of salsa and was a little hot for my tastes, but my husband enjoyed it.

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Bountiful Baskets – 10/22/2011

22 Oct

Lots of goodies this week!  I got the conventional basket for $15 and a Halloween cookie kit for $10.

LOTS of sweet potatoes. I will probably make Oven Baked Parmesan Sweet Potato Fries, maybe a sweet potato pie, and I will have to look for something else to make.  I also need to decide what to do with the mushrooms and mushrooms, maybe a Zucchini Pie.  The celery I may chop and freeze to have for Thanksgiving to make bread & celery dressing.


The cookie kit had 20 cookies in 4 different shapes, with 4 colors of frosting.  The girls had a lot of fun decorating these today.

 

Note: The amount of food may vary from another basket because of volunteering and because of variances in how the ends of produce cases are distributed after everything has been distributed evenly.

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Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake

21 Oct

I was not feeling up to cooking much earlier this week, so tonight was time to do some catch up.  I had gotten Mexican grey squash in my Mexican pack, and still had some yellow squash to use, so since the grey squash is similar to zucchini, I found this recipe for Easy Chessy Zucchini Bake.    I think it turned out pretty good, I think the grey squash made it a little watery, but over all good.  I think next time I will put some mozzarella on top with the Parmesan.  I used grated Parmesan on top, but I think it might have been better with both grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella.

 

Easy Cheesy Zucchini Bake

What you need:

2-3 zucchinis, sliced or cut in half moon slices
2-3 yellow squash, sliced or cut in half moon slices
1/2 bunch green onion, diced
1 Tbsp Italian blend seasoning
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Toss together the zucchini, yellow squash, green onion, seasoning, and mozzarella cheese.  Spray an 8×8 baking dish, and place the zucchini mixture in the dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese (here is where I would also put mozzarella cheese on top, probably about 1/4 cup).  Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until zucchini and yellow squash are tender and cheese is browned.

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Guaca-, Guaca-, -mole, -mole!!

21 Oct

Let me explain the title first.  A while back, I was introduced to this video.  I don’t know if it was a commercial Bounty did outside the US or what, but the song is catchy, and K sings it whenever I make guacamole.

I have been waiting all week for my avocados to ripen, and tonight, they finally were.   We are all big fans of guacamole in this house, and this batch was perfect.

Guacamole

What you need:

5 avocados
1/2 bunch green onion
2 jalapeno peppers, tops and seeds removed
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup cilantro
juice of 1 lime
sea salt

How to make it:

Coarsely chop all the ingredients and add to a food processor or blender.  Blend as desired.

I left mine a little chunky, but mostly pureed.  It was a beautiful green color and full of flavor.  It made about 2 cups of guacamole.


(So, is the guacamole song still stuck in your head?)

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Spaghetti Squash

18 Oct

I love this time of year when squash becomes available and is cheap.  One of our favorites is spaghetti squash.  The reason it is called spaghetti squash, is that after you roast it, you can take a fork and pull it away from the peel, and it looks like spaghetti noodles.  It is usually a long, yellow oval-shaped squash.  Here is how to prepare one.

First, cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and innards.  Below shows the before on the left, after on the right.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the squash cut side down on the baking sheet.  Use a fork to pierce some holes in the outer peel of the squash.  Bake in 400 F oven for 30-35 minutes, or until you can easily put a fork in the outer peel. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Use a fork to pull the flesh away from the peel, which will be stringy.

You will get a nice bowl of squash, which you can do a variety of things with.  You can serve it with your favorite pasta sauce to make it a meal on its own.  I usually use it as a side, so I mix in melted butter, salt and pepper, although with this one I used garlic salt, and it was delicious.

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Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

17 Oct

I wish this dish wasn’t so time-consuming, because I would make them a lot more!  There is just something about grape leaves and the filling that makes this so delicious.  Normally, I use bottled lemon juice, but this time I still had lemons from Bountiful Baskets from the previous week.  Also, I used fresh garlic over the jarred garlic I would normally use.  It was a nice change to make it with fresh ingredients.


Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

What you need:

1 jar (16 oz) grape leaves, drained and rinsed

Filling:
1 lb lean lamb or beef, coarsely ground or chopped
1 cup raw long grain rice
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp allspice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon

Broth:
2 cups basic chicken stock or canned broth
juice of 1 lemon

How to Make it:

Mix all ingredients for filling. Pick out the smallest leaves in the jar and set aside. Cut of the stems of the remaining grape leaves.  Using a 2-quart, heavy-lidded pot, create a single layer of the smaller leaves.

Spread leaf on counter with the vein side facing you.   Place about 2 Tbsp of filling in the center of the leaf.

Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold the sides over to secure the filling, then roll away from you toward the tip of the leave, creating a small cylinder.

Size should be about 3″ long by 1″ wide. Do not wrap too tightly as rice needs room for expansion during cooking.

Place the stuffed leaves in pot up against each other rather tightly so they do not come undone.

Multiple layers of stuffed leaves may be needed, so place layer of the smaller, unrolled leaves in between each layer. Top with remaining unrolled leaves.  This jar of grape leaves and the amount of filling allowed for 24 stuffed leaves (2 layers of 12 stuffed leaves), with 2 leaves on bottom, 2 leaves in between the 2 layers, and 2 leaves on top.  Mix the chicken stock and lemon juice, and pour over the leaves in the pot.  Cover and bring to a light simmer.  Cook for 1 hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Do not remove lid or leaves will darken. Serve warm.

 

Printable Recipe:

Dolmathes (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

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Baked Egg Rolls

16 Oct

A few weeks back, I made egg rolls for the first time.  I had another package of egg roll wrappers still, so I decided I wanted to try baking them instead of frying them.  For the filling, I julienne cut one of the 1 pound bags of carrots I got from Bountiful Baskets this week.  Next, I diced up the stems and leaves of the bok choy, then removed the meat from the bones of the rotisserie chicken.  I put a little vegetable oil in my wok, then added the carrots and the bok choy stems.  I cooked them until they were tender, then added the bok choy leaves and the chicken.  I added in soy sauce, and cooked for a few minutes.  Then, I assembled the egg rolls.

To bake them, I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray.  I arranged the egg rolls on the baking sheet, then brushed them with olive oil  I put them in the oven at 400 F for about 15 minutes, when they became golden brown.

They turned out well.  I think I prefer them fried, but have no problem with the baked ones.  After I used up the filling, I still had 4 egg roll wrappers left, so I filled them with shredded mozzarella cheese, and baked them the same way.  They turned out pretty tasty too.

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