Hatch Green Chile Fries

 So I have something special to share with you today. Hatch Green Chiles. Have you heard of them before? Hatch Chiles come from the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. You can get them in hot, medium and mild. This valley use to be a floodplain for the Rio Grande valley, and that nutrient rich soil is what makes those chiles great. This is the only place that grows these Chiles. Hatch Chile season is from the first of August through the end of September, so you still have time to go find them. I have found them at Fresh Market and now at Publix. You can roast them in the oven and freeze them for later or try the recipe from today.

These Chiles came from Publix. This is the first time I have found them there.

The first thing you will want to do is put on some gloves and wash, seed and cut the peppers. Like other peppers the heat is in the seeds. Once you get the seeds out you can take the gloves off.

So I have a plateful of pepper slices. You can make them any size you want. I cut mine into pieces like “fries”.

Put some plain flour in a zip lock bag. You can put it in a bowl but the zip lock bag was so easy and kept the mess down a little bit.

Now I am putting together the rest of the things I will need. Here I am going to give you some advice, the do as I say not as I do. Read the recipe before you go to the store to make sure you hav everything, I thought I had checked everything. I missed the tempura batter mix, lucky for me Pinterest told me how I can make it. So the first thing I did was make my tempura. 1/2 c plain flour, 1/2 c corn starch, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt. 

You need 1/2 cup of the tempura batter mix. There is more than 1/2 cup. I just used it all. Put it in a shallow dish.

You are going to need 1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs. The Panko is going to give it that crunch. Add it to the tempura.

This Slap Ya Mama is going to be the primary seasoning in the fries. Add 1 Tablespoon to the mix.

.Black pepper. Add 2 teaspoons. Mix into the other ingredients. You can also add some garlic. I did not today.

So I also had to make buttermilk. I knew I was going to have to because I didn’t need much and didn’t want to waste the rest. It’s easy to make. Very every 1 cup of milk add 1Tablespoon  of white vinegar or the juice from half a fresh lemon. I had the vinegar and used that. Let it set about 5 minutes and hen use it right away. You can’t keep it.

Add an egg to the buttermilk

Whisk the egg in the buttermilk and set aside in your dipping station.

I have my dipping station set up. Put the pepper slices in the flour bag and shake to coat well. Take from the flour a few at a time and drop into the buttermilk. Take out of the buttermilk and dredge in the Panko mixture. Then you will add to the hot oil. I dare you to not make a mess.

Shake shake the flour.

They are coated well.

Drop into he buttermilk.

I used a spoon to help coat all sides.

I tested the oil to make sure it was hot enough.

Put several in but no more than you can hand,e.

When they get brown on one side turn to brown the other.

Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Boy I had a mess.

But boy were they good. They were even good later cold. The Panko kept its crunch so they were a good snack later.

Hatch Green Chile Fries Recipe

Hatch green Chiles

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup tempura bread crumbs- 1/2 c plain flour, 1/c corn starch,1t.sugar, 1t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1/2 t salt

2 Tablespoons garlic powder

1Tablespoon Slap Ya Mama

2 teaspoons blsck pepper

Vegetable oil for frying.

Traveling with the Grobmyers Days 17 &18 July 23 & 24

 So Sunday afternoon we left New Haven and headed back to our hotel in Jersey City for a couple more days in the Big Apple. It was an uneventful morning but with a stop at another diner on the way. I didn’t get a picture but they were celebrating their 50th year.

When we checked into our hotel in Jersey City last week we were told about this pizza place that was voted #2 in the nation. We had to check it out. So Sunday evening we ubered over to see if it measured up. It was very popular and we had to scramble to get an outside table. 

Now for our review. It was some of the best pizza we have had. The crust was chewy and firm. What I mean by hat is that it wasn’t soggy in the middle or thin in the center. It was a very tasty pizza.two thumbs up.

So Monday night we had tickets to see Billy Joel  at Madison Square  again and I’ll share more about hat in a minute.  So Hoboken has a few famous residents; Buddy of Carlo’s Bakery and Ole Blue Eyes himself Frank Sinatra. There is a restaurant called Blue Eyes on Sinatra Dr next to Sinatra Park. We ate a late lunch there and the food was really good, especially the dessert.

After lunch we walked along the park. Great views of the city.

Now for the concert. Madison Square Garden is a great venue for a concert. There really isn’t a bad seat in the place. For a 74 year old manBilly Joel puts on a great high energy concert. He surrounded himself with very talented musicians.He played all the classics and paid tribute to Tony Bennet as well.As he reminded us when he started he doesn’t have any new stuff so we would be getting all old songs.His residency at MSG is ending February 9 so if you want to see him get your tickets now.

After a late night, we had to get an early start driving home. One bright spot was that apparently today is “it’s beginning to looks lot like Christmas “ day at Cracker Barrel.everyone one we stopped at was putting up their trees and getting out Christmas decor.