Thanks to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture for sponsoring this recipe post through Kitchen PLAY. Try New Mexico green chile in a dish from your region, like this Chicago-style hot dog with roasted New Mexico green chile – cooked in the air fryer to keep the kitchen cool!
There is no question that New Mexico has one of the great American regional cuisines. The combination of the bountiful local produce, like chiles, corn, squash and beans, and the unique culture – with its European, Mexican and Native American influences – has created a rich and special food tradition.
I have been lucky enough to visit New Mexico on several occasions – most recently for the 2019 International Association of Culinary Professionals conference, but also for a memorable family vacation in 2013. I happily spent much of those visits partaking of the local cuisine. There are certain New Mexico specialties you just can’t find anywhere else, like sopapillas dripping with honey or anise-scented biscochitos.
My family on a 2013 trip to Bandolier National Monument in New Mexico. I can’t believe how little my kids are here.
But happily New Mexico does export one of its most cherished native ingredients, the green chile. Anyone who has visited New Mexico knows that the local green chile is special – with a fruity flavor and just the right amount of heat. The soil and climate of New Mexico – hot days and cool desert nights – is uniquely suited to growing chile peppers and the farmers there have generations of experience coaxing the most flavor possible from their crop. There are dozens of named varietals of New Mexico green chile, but you may be most familiar with what is commonly known as the Hatch green chile, which come from an area near the town of Hatch.
In New Mexico, the green chile is so beloved that when it is time for the harvest – in late July or August – the people of that state turn it into an occasion with a kind of cookout known as a chile roast. The aroma from the roasting green chile is not to be missed! At a chile roast, green chile are placed on a hot grill to blister the tough outer skin; once the skin is blistered and the chile peppers are cool enough to handle, everyone gets to work peeling off the skin. Once peeled, a New Mexico green chile can be eaten right away or frozen to enjoy all year long.
While a chile roast may be a New Mexico tradition, those of us in the rest of the country can easily find New Mexico green chile at our local grocery stores at this time of year. Like the people of New Mexico, we should bring home these seasonal delicacies while we can and prepare them to enjoy right away or save them for the months to come.
The key to preparing the New Mexico green chile is blistering the outer skin, which makes it easy to remove. There are multiple methods to blister the skin beyond the outdoor grill – although that works very well. Try heating your oven to between 400 and 450 degrees and roasting the chile peppers in a single layer on a baking sheet. You can also use a dry pan or a wire mesh rack set over the flame on your gas stove and blister the skin that way.
I came up with a pretty clever method of blistering the outer skin of a New Mexico green chile using the air fryer. I love this method because it is quick and doesn’t heat up the whole kitchen. To roast a green chile in the air fryer, make a small slit in the side of the chile with a knife to allow steam to escape. Preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees for three minutes. Place the whole green chile in the air fryer basket – as many as will fit comfortably without overcrowding – and cook for 15 minutes, turning two or three times until the entire skin is blistered. Then remove to a heat-proof bowl and cover. Allow to cool for ten minutes. The skins will then peel right off. So easy!
We all know that New Mexico green chile is a cherished ingredient in southwestern dishes like chile verde, green chile enchiladas and the famous New Mexican green chile cheeseburger. But green chile peppers are really a versatile ingredient that you can use in any dish where a little heat would not be unwelcome. Indeed, New Mexico green chile is an inspired addition to egg dishes, rice dishes or even classic macaroni and cheese.
To demonstrate how New Mexico green chile works in any cuisine, I have adapted a classic Chicago dish, the Chicago-style hot dog, to include New Mexico green chile. Are you familiar with the Chicago dog? It is an all-beef hot dog – preferably a Chicago brand like Vienna Beef – nestled in a poppy seed bun, overloaded with vegetable toppings and slathered in mustard and pickle relish but never ketchup. People here are not kidding about the no-ketchup thing!
The joke is that the Chicago-style hot dog has so many vegetables on it, it has been “dragged through the garden.” The classic toppings are onion, tomato, a pickle spear and something called “sport peppers” that come from a jar. Not being from Chicago myself – although I have lived here for nearly 20 years – I have always been a little vague on what sport peppers are exactly. I decided that for my version of a Chicago dog, I would ditch the sport peppers in favor of roasted New Mexico green chile.
Roasted, peeled and sliced into strips, the New Mexico green chile added a welcome touch of heat to my Chicago-style hot dog and it was a perfect match with the other toppings. (Ketchup, however, would have ruined the whole thing.) Because I used my air fryer to roast the New Mexico green chile, I also used it to cook the hot dogs, which works really well and avoids getting a pot dirty. (In fact, my book Epic Air Fryer has a great recipe for Sonoran Hot Dogs, another regional hot dog variation.) But you can obviously grill the hot dogs or cook them on the stove if you prefer.
So, this summer, when you are shopping, be sure to keep your eyes open for New Mexico green chile and bring some home. Now that you know how to prepare them, I’m certain you will find many uses for them in your favorite regional dishes.
Ingredients
- 4 New Mexico green chile
- 4 beef hot dogs
- 4 hot dog buns, preferably with poppy seeds
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 Roma or plum tomatoes, thinly sliced and halved
- 1 large kosher dill pickle, quartered
- Yellow mustard
- Pickle relish
- Celery salt
Instructions
- Make a small slit in each green chile. Preheat air fryer to 400°F for three minutes. Place chile peppers in the air fryer basket, without crowding, and roast, turning 2 or 3 times, until the skin is blistered on all sides, approximately 15 minutes.
- Remove chile peppers and place in a heat-proof bowl. Cover and let steam for 10 minutes When chile peppers are cool enough to handle, peel off outer skin, remove seeds and cut into strips. (May be done in advance up to this point.)
- Place hot dogs in the air fryer basket and roast at 350°F turning once until cooked through, approximately 8 minutes.
- Remove hot dogs and place in buns. On one side of bun, place three tomato slices and a pickle spear. Spread pickle relish on opposite side. Top with chopped onion and green chile strips. Sprinkle celery salt on dog and add mustard.
- Enjoy warm!
Full disclosure time: I was engaged by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to develop a recipe using New Mexico green chile. As always, all opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
