Chile Pepper Update

Frequent readers of this blog (thank you!) know I'm a bit fanatical about freshly roasted chiles, and look forward to their summer arrival almost as much as I look forward to Munson's corn. A cult seems to have developed around Hatch chiles from New Mexico, but there are many other options, including some very local organic ones that get roasted right in front of you at the Boulder Farmers' Market a little later in the season. I was disappointed to find that Whole Foods jumped the gun, advertising on an outside board that they'd be roasting first of the season Hatch chiles last weekend when in fact they weren't able to get them, but I noticed that Lucky's in Longmont had a roaster outside yesterday with a sign that they were already roasting, probably the chiles from Pueblo they were advertising last week. Heavy rains are evidently slowing the Hatch crop, as this is the latest from Whole Foods (and the hype regarding Hatch is a bit annoying, considering there are other options):

Hatch Chile Peppers

It's time to get your hatch on. At least it's almost time. Hatch chiles, famous in this area and around the globe, are now in season! Excessive rains in New Mexico have soaked the fields, keeping farmers from harvesting them all at once. The result? These little guys are even more coveted than usual and will arrive later this week. We'll waste no time getting them into the roasters, upon their arrival.

No Roasted Chiles At Pearl Whole Foods

If your instinct tells you it's too good to be true, follow it. Although the Pearl Street Whole Foods expected to be roasting the first of this year's Hatch green chiles this weekend, it was too early to get them in, much as I suspected. So it's back to square one for me for dinner.

Hatch Green Chiles Already Here!

Uh oh, I regard this as welcome news but also a harbinger of the end of summer, so get the rest of those hot weather plans in line! The Pearl Street Whole Foods has a sign out front announcing that they will be roasting the first of the Hatch green chiles this weekend. That means I'll be doing a corn and green chile chowder to celebrate this weekend, probably on Sunday after fresh wild salmon going on the grill tomorrow from Sprouts (see below for prices). As already noted many times, the fresh Munson's farm corn has arrived to support all this, including a side for the grilled salmon so we are really in gear, perhaps some psychic support to all those amazing people doing the Boulder's Ironman triathlon this weekend.

Chile Roasting at Today's Boulder Farmers Market!

Yahoo, the guys with the chile roaster are cranking away at today's Farmers Market. While we've had roasted chiles available at Whole Foods and Sunflower for a couple of weeks, what I love about these chiles is that they are identified by varietal, not just a generic mild, medium, or hot, as you'll find at the grocery stores. Their sign today is set up for poblanos, dynamites (yikes), big Jims, and anaheims, but they're selling so fast, you'll only find the type that just emerged from the roaster at any given moment. (By the way, the sign also identifies how hot/mild the varietal is.) Pricewise, you'll do better buying at a grocery store, but I enjoy knowing what type of chile I'm eating, besides its heat. Being so excited about seeing the roasters, I neglected to ask about their future plans, but in past years, once they turn up, they're there for a few Saturdays in a row. Roasted chiles freeze beautifully to last through the year, but that deserves a post of itself, soon to follow.

As far as other things happening at the market, this is probably the very best time of year to catch the maximum variety of offerings. While we still have plenty of greens and the later summer produce like corn and tomatoes, fall is starting to make an appearance. I saw Brussels sprouts and cabbage at several places, and First Fruits Organic Farms from Paonia was there with their apple cider. A yellow leaf fell on me as I passed the cider, surely a sign of the times. I'd give the most notable offering award this week to Red Wagon Organic Farm, where they have wild cherry tomatoes. They look like concentrated bursts of flavor, but at $5.50 a pint, pretty pricey. Isabelle Farm has cherry tomatoes for $3 a pint, but the deal of the day is at Black Cat, which practices organic techniques but is not yet certified. All the tomatoes there, including the cherry tomatoes, are $3 a pound, way more than you get in a pint.

The market is open until 2 today, so you still have time to head there to join the fun.

A Rainy Farmers Market - Hallelujah!

Not great for vendor sales, but everybody was still smiling in the rain at today's Boulder Farmers Market, so glad for its potential help with the Fourmile fire. The beer and wine garden was a popular spot while I was there, as its many canopies form a pretty good rain shelter. No green chile roasting happening today, but the folks at the information booth say that the roaster will be there for this coming Saturday's market.

Roasted Chile Prices on the Rise

Glad I started stocking up on roasted Hatch green chiles a few days ago, when they were $1.99/lb at the Pearl Street Whole Foods store. The price at Whole Foods (both Pearl Street and Superior) has now jumped 50% to $2.99/lb, and you'd better want the hot variety, as that's all either store was offering at noon today. Last I checked (several days ago) at the Boulder Sunflower, their Hatch chiles roasted onsite were $1.99/lb, so I'll provide an update on that price the next time I'm there. Roasted chiles freeze beautifully, so now's the time to lay in a stock to take you all the way to next year's season. More on that in a bit.

Beer, Wine, Cheese, Chile Tasting in Superior

This Thursday, 9/2, the Whole Foods store in Superior will partner with Superior Liquor to present a free tasting that has to be about the most challenging one I've ever heard of. From 6:30 to 8:00 pm, they will feature "roasted Hatch green chilies paired with American artisanal & Mexican cheeses, beers from Wynkoop Brewery and wines from Veraison Distributing." Chilies and cheese, okay, chilies and beer, even better, but chilies and wine? Wonder how they will pull that one off. While the event is free, please note that you have to receive an invitation, either by signing up at the store in advance, or by emailing kathy.ongarato@wholefoods.com.

Roasted Green Chiles in Superior!

The chile roaster is cranking today at the Whole Foods store in Superior. They're roasting medium and hot chiles, the more interesting ones (although mild has its place, too). When these stores get roasting, it generally means you'll find a stock of the roasted chiles in a refrigerated case, whether or not you see the roaster outside. Yahoo!

Whole Foods is Roasting!

Yahoo! At the Pearl Street Whole Foods, the chile roaster is cranking away today in the parking lot, roasting wonderful Hatch green chiles from New Mexico. Packages of the finished product are in the refrigerated case in the produce department, where they keep the salsa. And for the first time in my experience there, the containers are marked mild, medium, or hot. In the past, the staff hasn't been able to tell me what they were, although that made things a rather fun crapshoot. It's even better when you can talk with someone who can go beyond mild, medium, or hot to tell you that they're Big Jims, Sandias, any number of other varieties. We might find that experience soon, once roasted chiles turn up at the Boulder Farmers Market. Yes!

Continuing the Chile-Themed Dinners

Since I managed to get some roasted chilies at yesterday's Boulder Farmers Market, I'll continue with the chile-centric thinking for the rest of the week, hoping my family is as enthused about the chiles as I am. For tomorrow, it's about time we had something vegetarian and it's been awhile since we've had pasta, so I'm thinking about a favorite dish that isn't online, chili 'choke pasta. The basic idea is that, while your pasta of choice is cooking, you make a sauce of chopped artichoke hearts (with their marinade) from a 6 oz jar, chopped roasted green chilies (substituting a 4 oz can if you don't have fresh), half a cup of lowfat sour cream, a touch of olive oil, and finally, a cup of grated parmesan. Add a little pasta water if the sauce needs thinning, then toss the cooked pasta with the sauce, yum.

Then it's time for the usual quick midweek reprise of something made over the weekend, this time being our New Mexican chile verde, with a big salad and some warm tortillas on the side.

For Wednesday, if I'll be allowed one more dinner with chilies, we'll go for chicken burritos with poblano chiles and corn from Bon Appetit, using our freshly roasted chilies and corn kernels fresh off a local cob. (Anyone notice how many spellings there are of chile, chili, chilies, chiles?) In addition to the seasonal ingredients, this will make use of boneless chicken breasts from Sprouts on the last day of their $1.99/lb sale.

Those chicken breasts from Sprouts are already sitting in my freezer, as are some chicken sausage from their $2.99/lb sausage celebration. To finally get a break from the chilies, we'll go with an old Italian favorite from the northeast, sausage subs with onions and peppers. A touch of bottled pasta sauce completes the mixture to stuff into a fresh sub roll or crusty baguette.

And that will complete our chile-dominated week of planning.

Roasted Chilies Scored at Today's Farmers Market!

Knew I was jumping the gun in wanting to see chile roasting everywhere this weekend, with the arrival of the first of the Hatch green chile crop from New Mexico. The folks at the Boulder Farmers Market report that the guys who bring in their big chile roaster aren't expected for maybe another couple of weeks. But I was thrilled to see that Isabelle Farm had their own Anaheim chilies available, roasted just last night, and sold in one pound bags. They also had a few bags of roasted jalapenos, which sounds like dangerous stuff to me. So I'll continue with my chile-centric thinking for the week, since today's purchase should carry me through until the big roasters arrive.

Otherwise, the market was what you'd expect at the height of the season: overflowing with produce, crowds, dogs, strollers, and people trying to park. Definitely the place to ride your bike today, if you're thinking of going. It's probably the best time of year for the greatest variety of veggies, but think about your local farmstands, too, if you'd prefer to avoid the crowds.

Getting Started on This Week's Dinners

So much good stuff to work with this week, between the good sale prices happening in our stores and the bounty of local produce. Tonight and tomorrow look like our better grilling nights of the weekend, with Sunday looking possibly wet, so we'd better get grilling. We have some great prices locally on fresh, wild salmon this week (see the left margin for details), and with fresh sweet corn everywhere you turn, we'll fire up the grill tonight for grilled salmon with roasted corn relish from Cooking Light, which also celebrates the arrival this week of the first of the Hatch green chile crop from New Mexico. A quick alternative to the corn relish would be a fruit salsa using a Palisade peach and one of the 49 cent avocados from Sprouts. Sides could be anything: buttermilk mashed potatoes, potato packages done on the grill, grilled veggies, whatever. I hope to possibly stop by the Zweck family's market out by Longmont today, drawing inspiration from the organic veggies I'll find. I'll report further if I do in fact make it out there.

I'm hoping eggplant will be among the veggies I'll find (I know Munson's stand has the Japanese variety already), as with boneless, skinless chicken breasts $1.99/lb for a value pack at Sprouts, we'll be ready to fire up the grill again for grilled chicken and ratatouille from Bon Appetit. This is a great grilling recipe for summer's bounty, and it's equally good with regular rather than Japanese eggplant.

With thunderstorms potentially looming Sunday (and looking to do a big pot of something that will also make a quick midweek reheat), we'll head indoors for New Mexican chile verde from Cooking Light. This recipe will again celebrate this week's arrival of Hatch chilies from New Mexico, while also capitalizing on the pork loin roast that's an astonishing $1.88/lb at Sunflower, what a combo. I'm hoping somebody, either at tomorrow's Farmer's Market or at Whole Foods, will already be roasting chilies so I won't have to do it myself. Also, I bet the dish would be great with fresh corn kernels substituted for the hominy.

More planning yet to come.

A Chile Update and Clarification

Although the Whole Foods flyer says they have both organic or conventional Hatch chile peppers at $1/lb, that isn't exactly the case. At the Pearl Street store, there's one type, and according to the produce guy, Hatch chiles, while not certified organic, grow easily without pesticides because bugs hate the peppers anyway. In fact, he said, the peppers are ground up and spread on other veggies as a natural insecticide. The Pearl Street store just got their first shipment yesterday and has not yet set a schedule for roasting. I may be jumping the gun, but I'm thinking a chile-centric menu for the coming week.

BTW, while there, I noticed they have organic green grapes for $1.99/lb, a good price. (Since it's not in the regional flyer, you can't tell what you'll find from store to store on things like that.) But the $3.99/lb they're charging for organic roma tomatoes is highway robbery. If you have to spend that much, better to pick up the heirlooms they have on sale this week for the same price.

New Sale Prices Are Up

Highlights of today's new deals at our Boulder natural foods stores are up on the left, along with the specials ending today. Some good specials to be had in the coming week, including fresh wild salmon at good prices, great prices on organic fruit, and conventional Hass avocados for 49 cents each. With the new crop of Hatch green chilies arriving, could we be on the verge of fall already?