If you are from the Denver you might recognize the picture above as something delicious. If you are not from Denver let me explain. I don’t know many places this is done, but in Denver for the month of October certain parts of the city smell divine. It smells like roasting chiles. There are chile stands all over the place. You just pull up and choose you chiles and they roast them right there on the spot for you. The chiles are then put in a large heavy plastic bad which is sealed tightly so the chiles can steam. This helps to loosen the skins and char. You take the chiles home, slice them in half and scrape out the seeds and ribs. The next step is to turn the chiles over and scrape off the skins and char. This is a really messy process and is best completed with a nice glass of red wine. After all the chiles are cleaned put 4-5 cleaned chiles in a plastic baggie, continue to do this until your bushel of chiles is all bagged. Be sure to put paper towels between the baggies so they do not stick to each other in the freezer. Now you have roasted green chiles for the whole year. (I never seem get enough and we run out by spring no matter how many I get).
I would love to hear about your traditions.
I promise to publish many green chile recipes. xoxo