Pepper Pucks

Pepper Pucks (for lack of a better name)

These are the greatest!  

Little pucks of fresh green chilies that can be added all fall/winter/spring to soups, stews, chili, salsa and anything else.  If you're wondering if it's worth the effort, might I just say that these kick butt on the canned version.  

If you ever see Hatch fire roasted green chilies on the street corner (where they are actually roasting them), flip around, alter your schedule and pick up a case.  

The flavor of these is unmatched!!  The roasting brings out a tasty goodness like no other, gets that skin all charred and ready to be removed, plus the color is ten times brighter than canned.

If you grew your own chilies, you can do this in the oven.  Lay chilies on a baking sheet, broil until charred (you want the skin charred but not the pepper), flip over and do the same.  

I've done it this way many times.  Works great but not quite as good as the smoky, charred flavor of the fire roasted - which is why I almost took out a street sign, a curb and my bumper and a homeless guy while flipping a 'Ueee" when I spotted these. 

So once you have the charred chilies, put them in a Ziploc bag immediately for a while to sweat.  This will help ease the peeling process greatly.

To peel, rub most of the char off with your hands, give it a quick rinse to get the rest off.  Chili die-hards  shun the idea of rinsing in water but seriously folks (I think they take your first born or something like that), the charred bits will stick to you like those foamy packing thingies otherwise.

 It's all good to leave a little char on, but not too much.

You want "Oh, I see those are fire roasted. How nice."  

Not "What are those floating black chunks and did they get scraped off the bottom of the pot?".

Then with your hands, open up, slide the seeds out with your fingers and take off the stem. If your skeerd, put on rubber gloves.  But these are mild enough, not really necessary.  

Now pile in your food processor or blender and give enough pulses that they are chopped but not pureed. 

 With your ice cream scoop, fill muffin tins. Pat down a little.

Stick in your freezer and enjoy the kid's reaction when they go for a fudgesicle and wonder what they hayell mom is doing this time.

When solid (like overnight), remove from freezer, set the bottom of the muffin tin in hot water for about 10 seconds. Flip out on the counter and bag up those pucks of heaven.

 I think thar be some chili verde on ye horizon mates. 

I've been a cravin'.

These have the potential of becoming your BFF.