How to roast fresh peppers.

Whenever I get excited about something I guess I tend to talk about it a lot.  I just can’t help it, it’s who I am.  Apparently this was the case with my new found love for Poblano peppers this past year.  We’ve grown many different peppers over the years, but somehow missed trying Poblanos till this past summer.   The plants grew waist high and were well branched and a lovely deep green.  When we began to see how much fruit they were putting on we staked them for fear that they might fall over. We were blessed with an abundance of peppers.   I was really astounded at the amount six plants yielded!  I guess I talked about them quite a bit because our son Elijah accused me of trying to see how many times I could use the word ‘Poblano’ in a sentence!

My family loves mexican food and especially chile rellenos so I was excited to have some to sell at the farmer’s market and still lots to roast and freeze for the winter, all from just 6 plants!  At the market I was surprised at how many people asked me how to roast a chile, so I thought I’d share how we do it here.

 

I’ve tried a couple of different ways to roast peppers over the years, but the grill seems to be the easiest.  The oven works o.k. but the smell is really overpowering.

First turn on your grill and get it good and hot.  Make sure you clean your racks from any leftover bits of your last BBQ. While you’re waiting for it to get                                                         hot rinse off any dirt  from the peppers.

Fill the grill with as many peppers as you can and still be able to comfortably turn them.  Set the heat to about medium and close the lid.

Crack a beer and relax.  This is so much easier than say grilling chicken and having to check it every few minutes.  In this case you want to char the skin quite a bit.  Right up my alley!  I usually turn them a few times and really make sure that the skin is beginning to look black and bubble a bit.

Some will be done sooner than others, so as you take them off the grill, toss them in a paper bag, roll down the top, and secure with a clothespin.  The heat from the peppers continues to steam them in the bag and really makes the next step super easy.

O.K., I usually throw all caution to the wind, but take my advise here and wear gloves!  Poblano’s aren’t incredibly hot, but the juice and seeds can really irritate your skin.  If you’ve let them steam long enough, the skin will peel right off and you’re left with a whole chile.

From here you can either seed  and chop them or leave them whole, package and freeze.  They freeze terrifically and we’ve been enjoying yummy chile rellenos all winter.  This is for you Elijah….. Poblano,Poblano,Poblano,Poblano……….