Hatch chiles from New Mexico
{fruity, spicy and addicting}
The long green chiles named after Hatch, the town where they are grown in southwestern New Mexico, make their appearance on the produce stage from June to September. Widely available from websites such as www.melissas.com, now matter where you are, you can easily and deliciously bring a bit of the southwest pantry to your kitchen and table. Similar to an Anaheim chile, but often hotter, the Hatch variety ranges in heat measured on the Scoville scale (which measures capsaicin content in parts per million) from 1,000 to 8,000 units, where mild is considered anywhere from 0-4,000 Scoville units and very hot, as in Thai bird’s eye and Scotch bonnet varieties, would be noted as anything greater than 50,000 Scoville units. But remember that chiles vary widely in hotness, even from one pepper to the next grown on the same plant. So it’s best to taste tiny bits of the pepper to get a more accurate measure of the pepper’s hotness and to get a better idea of your own personal tolerance to this kind of heat.
These chiles gain in complexity of flavor by being seared on the backyard grill where the coals have fully ashed over. (Or, if you prefer, place them on a baking sheet and set the pan under a broiler set a few inches below the heat source and blacken fully.) First, halve the peppers lengthwise, remove the seeds and membrane holding the seeds and then grill them, skin side up, until evenly blackened. Allow the peppers to cool and then rub off the skins. Arrange on a platter, pour a simple whisked dressing of 1 part mild vinegar (such as rice vinegar) to 3 or 4 parts fruity extra virgin olive oil, pinch of sugar, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and then serve as a partner to thinly sliced cured meats such as prosciutto, speck, jamon Serrano or Genoa salami. A chunk of aged Pecorino would round out the plate nicely. Provide some rustic artisanal bread and pour a nice Sicilian red wine such as Planeta’s Cerasuolo made from Nero d’Avola grapes and you have a light picnic-style dinner to celebrate the waning days of summer.
