Fleeting Hatch Chiles

Are Hatch Chiles on your radar?  

These beauties are only in season a few weeks each summer, and still available for a couple weeks at our bay area Mollie Stone's Markets. Hatch Chiles are only grown in the Mesilla Valley of New Mexico, and its season is in August and September.

I got my hands on some fresh ones and took them to a friend's house for a birthday barbecue.  First I split them so that the flat side would rest well on the grill.

Then these prepped chiles got a quick bath in a fresh lemon and olive oil mixture I whisked together.

With the oil marinade, it's not surprising that these flamed up a bit on the grill.

Nicely grilled, the Hatch Chiles made a nice addition to the summer's bounty of grilled vegetables.

There are other ways to preserve the experience year round, with dried Hatch Chiles, Hatch Chili powder and a peppy Hatch Salsa. Melissa's makes the Hatch Chile powder and the Hatch Salsa.  Melissa's also provides fresh Hatch Chiles by the case to Mollie Stone's. A Hatch Chile cookbook is available for sale at Mollie's as well, with 176 pages of Hatch Chile inspiration.

The Hatch Chiles I bought were pretty mild with only a slight kick.  The Hatch Salsa was a little spicier.

I brought the salsa to the birthday barbecue as well.  My friends gave it a thumbs up and it disappeared fast. Mollie Stone's is celebrating the season not only with roasts at it's various San Francisco bay area locations, but its delis and bakeries are including it in some seasonal dishes, such as twice baked potatoes with Hatch Chiles, a Hatch Chile corn bread, and I even saw a Hatch Chile Relleno Casserole in its Sausalito store. Celebrate the Hatch Chiles as part of the fleeting fall season. And if you need another reason, a medium-sized fresh Hatch Chile has as much vitamin C as six oranges!