My summer blogging hiatus is finally over. Its been an amazing few months of travel, work, eating and being with family and friends. I've been in Salt Lake City, Atlanta, New York, Maui, Oklahoma City, San Francisco, Austin and all around Seattle. Needless to say I've had tons of great meals, tried amazing new restaurants and got cooking tips from around the country. I even end up with a fiance and started planning our wedding!
I've been beating the heat by migrating west to cooler temps in Seattle and have only spent a handful of days in Austin this summer. However, I did make it back for one of the most important weeks of the year- the Hatch Chile Festival at Central Market. My fridge and freezer are now full of hatch goodness including- burgers, marinated chicken, tortillas, bread, salsa, lasagna, twice baked potatoes and cornbread. Every aisle of Central Market was filled with creative items all stuffed with Hatch chile peppers. These amazing peppers are grown in Hatch, New Mexico and are only widely available once a year so you gotta stock up when you can!
In order to use them year long I roast them, peel em up and put them in the freezer. Then whenever I get a craving I can thaw them, slice and add to dishes like chili, eggs, salsa and meat dishes.
Here's what I've made with them so far this year:
- Salsa: verde style with roasted Hatch peppers, garlic, onions, tomatillos
- Chili Rellenos: roasted peppers stuffed with cheese mixture, dipped in batter, fried and topped with creamy salsa verde (from above)
- Egg Scramble: added chopped roasted pieces to scramble eggs with cheese
- Israeli couscous pilaf: toasted couscous with onions, mushrooms, pine nuts, roasted Hatch peppers
 |
| Veggies ready for roasting |
