It’s Hatch chile time! The Hatch chile grows in the Hatch Valley, an area that stretches north and south along the Rio Grande in New Mexico. It’s a “designer” chile, developed at New Mexico State University over the past 130 years specifically for conditions in the Hatch Valley. The peppers come in mild, medium, hot, and extra hot, although you can’t tell how hot they are just by looking at them. Extra hot chiles reportedly have the strongest chile fragrance.
When buying fresh Hatch chiles, look for bright green, symmetrical peppers. The peppers should be firm, with smooth skin, and feel heavy for their size.
The smell wafting from the giant iron roasters in front of the grocery stores entices me to purchase bags of roasted chiles every year. Usually I go home and stick them in the freezer, where they remain until they are destroyed by freezer burn months later. But not this year! Recently, I purchased a package of Frontera Green Chile Enchilada Sauce, and made green chile chicken and cheese enchiladas, which were quite a hit here.
Using my bag of freshly-roasted Hatch chiles, I made my own salsa verde, based on a recipe adapted from Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen. It was surprisingly easy and tasty, and I’m already planning to make another batch or two to freeze.
1 pound tomatillos (10-12 medium), husked and rinsed
3 fresh Hatch or serrano chiles, stemmed
1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt, to taste
Instructions
Roast tomatillos and chiles, either by placing on grill or on a baking sheet under a broiler. Roast until blackened and blistered on one side, approximately 5 minutes, then turn over using tongs and roast the other side. Transfer tomatillos and chiles to a food processor or blender.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large heavy nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Transfer onions and garlic to food processor or blender. Pulse to a rough-looking puree -- avoid overprocessing.
Heat remaining ½ tablespoon of oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add puree and stir constantly for 4-5 minutes, until puree thickens and darkens slightly. Stir in the broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon, approximately 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro, and season to taste with salt.
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Stir the puree constantly
Salsa verde
Place shredded chicken and cheese on a corn tortilla
Roll ’em up, spread a little sauce on the bottom of a baking dish,
and place seam side down
Cover with sauce and sprinkle with additional cheese
I found this cheery birthday postcard on ebay. What a thoughtful person the sender must have been. It was sent 99 years ago!
I don’t know when birthday postcards fell out of favor, but I vote to bring them back. Today the sender would probably go on Facebook and write “Happy Birthday! Hope it’s a great one! <3 <3 <3.” Or maybe send a text message, like “HAPPY B-DAY 2U, HOPE UR DAY IS GR8T! :)” Although I appreciate the electronic sentiments, I’m still touched when someone goes to the trouble to send me a birthday card. Same for invitations, birth announcements, etc. — the electronic versions aren’t nearly as nice.
Following the trench warfare during WWI that took place in the poppy fields of Flanders in Belgium, poppies became a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died in war. Wearing a poppy on Memorial Day has been a tradition in the U.S. since 1924. Remember the crepe paper poppies that the American Legion used to sell?
The opium poppy, papaver somniferum, is the plant from which opium is derived. The Latin name means “sleep-bringing properties,” and thus, poppies are often associated with sleep. Remember Dorothy snoozing in the field of poppies?
So maybe the poppies on the birthday postcard symbolized that someone was being remembered on their birthday. Or maybe it was just to wish the person a sleep-filled day. Speaking of birthdays, mine was this week. I look forward to this day all year, because after all, I get a bunch of presents, and I get to go out to eat at my favorite restaurant, and I get a new party outfit, and several hundred people wish me happy birthday on Facebook, and I get a party with a petting zoo and a fancy cake, and, oh yeah, that’s my kids’ birthdays, not mine. Over the years, as we got busier with work and kids and life in general, and our calendars overflowed with commitments of all sorts, I grew to expect less and less each year on my birthday.
Two years ago, I discovered that although the birthday bar is low for me, it does exist. My husband had been in California for four months working day and night on a trial. It was the longest he’d ever been away from us. I didn’t expect much, given how hard he’d been working, but I thought for sure he’d call on my birthday. I didn’t hear from him before I left for work, but didn’t think too much about it. He’d sent flowers for our anniversary the month before, and I thought maybe there would be flowers waiting for me at the office. Nope. Around noon I called him, and he answered the phone with “WHAT?” I said, “I thought you might want to wish me Happy Birthday,” and he said, “Your birthday is tomorrow.” I corrected him, and then listened to him curse himself for a few minutes before telling him not to worry about it and hanging up.
So the burden of celebrating my birthday fell on my teenagers, who failed to rise to the occasion. Maybe they muttered “happy birthday,” I’m not sure. They quit making cards years ago. We had a Boy Scout meeting that night that we couldn’t skip, which meant no birthday dinner with the kids. We got home around 9 p.m. and settled in to watch a little TV before bed. I woke up on the couch around 1 a.m. — the kids had gone up to bed and just left me there asleep on the couch. Thank heavens for the dog that kept me company. Like I said, I don’t expect much, but it has to be something more than nothing.
This year I didn’t want another sleep-filled birthday, so I didn’t leave anything to chance. I arranged lunch with friends at a new restaurant, and had dinner with other friends at another new restaurant. My daughter was babysitting that night, and my husband and son were camping all weekend, so we agreed in advance that we would celebrate later. I brought my own birthday cake to work, because I’ve only been there 6 months and wasn’t sure if they knew or cared it was my birthday. It turned out they did know and were planning to order a cake. 🙂 I went to an herb symposium, which I really enjoyed. There was an unexpected surprise from the Texas Supreme Court in a case I’ve been working on, and that made the day extra special. I had a great birthday, and am looking forward to wrapping it up with dinner with my family tonight.
One final note about poppies. When my son was in grade school, he came home one day and told us that he had “sloppy poppies” for lunch. Of course, he meant Sloppy Joes, but as his parents, it cracked us up, much like everyone thinks “sketti” is hilarious the first time their kid blurts that out. Inspired by the cheery poppy birthday postcard, I made homemade Sloppy Poppies Sloppy Joes. They are so good and easy, and I have sent them many times as part of a compassion meal (with big hamburger buns, chips, cookies, and fruit salad), to let the recipient know that they are in our thoughts. The recipe is adapted from The New Basics by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and oregano, and saute until vegetables are tender. Add ground beef and cook until meat is browned, breaking the meat up with a spoon as necessary. Stir in the remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes. Spoon over split hamburger buns and serve hot.
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