Home Oven Chili Roasting

Home roasting of green chili will fill your home with a wonderful aroma, that is intoxicating. I do not suggest this an activity to do with children, so I had my little guys pick out a movie, and they got "planted" in front of the TV, mainly because roasting is HOT HOT HOT, and even handling the chili will transfer the Capsaicin to them. So washing of hands before handling anything else is necessary! So to start the day my kiddos decided on Cars to be the movie of choice. Wash the chili, not completely necessary, but sometimes a rotten one can be found in the bunch, and there is still dirt and such on the chili, and just want to make it pure, after the washing place them evenly and flatly as possible on a pan, do not crowd them onto the pan. I used two sheet pans for roasting the peppers on.
Get another pan ready for "sweating" the peppers after roasting, this is an important step, deep enough to hold all the peppers you are roasting, and a cover, I'm using a lasagna pan and foil.
Broil the peppers, as close to the broiler as possible, and turn on the light, you will need to watch very closely, as they will blister up rather quickly, when one side is blackening after approximately 2 to 3 minutes, you will need to pull them out and turn them over to roast and blister the other side. I have the second pan to broil in the oven the whole time, allowing the peppers to bake a bit and soften up, you will not need to flip these, just let them stay in the oven.

When the first pan is then all blistered, blackened, and done, switch the pans around, and start the blackening process with the other pan, remembering to turn the peppers after they have blackened on one side, and allow them to get blackened and blistered on both sides, approximately 2 to 3 minutes per side.
This is how they will look when blackened and blistered properly. They are not burnt, they are perfection. You might get wisps of smoke coming from the oven, and some of the peppers will bloat and pop from the steam building up on the inside. If you hear popping, that is a GOOD sound!
After they are done, transfer the roasted peppers to your sweating pan, and cover, tightly isn't necessary, just enough to hold the heat and steam in. Let them steam or "sweat" for about 30 minutes.
all covered, now you can do some fun stuff with the kids till you are ready to peel the chili
When ready to peel the chili, I have found that using an ice bath is the best way. It cools off the peppers enough to handle, and keeps your hands a little cool and you unaware of the Capsaicin that is digging into your skin. If you are really sensitive, gloves can be used, and are recommended! I have to stop for a minute and say thanks to The Frontier Restaurant( http://www.frontierrestaurant.com/ ) without having worked there for almost three years, I would have never known the special step of peeling green chili. Unbeknowst to many people, most New Mexican's do not roast their own chili.... why? Well it is roasted in such an abundance, they can already purchase it roasted, peeled, and chopped. Sure we can get it that way here in Florida, but it's only in little cans. Canning does something BAD to green chili, it's NOT the same. I used to buy huge Bueno chili http://www.buenofoods.com/ frozen tubs of green chili. They did all the hard work. The Frontier Restaurant roasted their own chili, and in idle hours of the work day, employees would peel the roasted chili. There always was a chili peeling station in the back, my first day of work, I peeled chili for 8 hours!

peeled chili... oh yes, you do need to peel it, it can be peeled prior freezing, or after, but you cannot eat the peel, well you can, but it's tough, and tasteless. The seeds are really hot, and not really good to eat, a few will not do any harm, but I don't care to eat the seeds.
The peels and the seeds. it seems like a lot, and really out of 10 pounds of green chili, the amount of flesh you get to actually eat is probably close to 6 or 7 pounds.
I chopped the chili and placed into bags for freezing. Chili should be frozen. Even though it is quite potent it will go bad, mold and rot, after a few weeks in the fridge. But what kind of moron lets the chili sit in the fridge for that long?
I roasted about 10 pounds of chili, and got about 7 to 8 cups of chopped green chili, I got 5 bags total, each with about 1 to 2 cups of chili
This same process can be used for any chili pepper, red peppers, green peppers, jalapenos, anything. If you want your own roasted red peppers follow the same steps, and you will get the same results with red peppers. I highly suggest this if you find a bunch of red peppers for really cheap... but that's not likely to happen. LOL, but doing it yourself is cheaper than buying roasted red peppers.

I would also like to thank my parents for sending out such a surprisingly abundant amount of chili. What a wonderful gift from New Mexico. I say, you can take the gal out of the Southwest, but you can't take the Southwest out of the gal!

Treasure from New Mexico

Green Chili, need I say any thing more... definite treasure, not just one box, but two. At least 30 pounds of green chili. My parents sent some out last year, but just two plastic grocery bags full, and we still have some of that, but I was using it very sparingly... now I can go HOG wild. I'll probably give some away to some friends I have who have resided in New Mexico. As a visitor to the land of Enchantment you cannot get the whole spectrum of the importance of Green Chili to New Mexico, you must have to live there for a minimum of six months to understand why it is on every menu in every restaurant in New Mexico. It is an essential ingredient to AUTHENTIC Southwestern cuisine.... one I miss dearly, but am fortunate enough to know how to duplicate!
Now I just have to roast it, which will fill the home with the aromatic senses of being back to where my roots lie. Oven roasting of chili is pretty easy, wash and dry the chili, place on a pan, just set the oven to 450 or even broil, and watch the chili, once the skin is blistering and blackening, you need to turn it over, till it does the same on the other side. Take out and let cool, or you can put it in an ice bath and peel the skin immediately. I usually like to freeze it with the skin on, I just feel it protects the flesh of the chili from freezer burn, but it is also easier to peel after it has been frozen, just thaw and peel under some cold running water and presto.. chili, and then do as you wish!

my Watermelon shop of horrors

I'm no Semour, and it's no Venus Fly trap flesh eating plant, but boy does this watermelon grow like crazy. I had no idea it would take over my whole front yard, and just scramble about reach where ever it is allowed, and just grow grow grow. My youngest of my brood waded into the depths of the vines and he was up to his waist in growth! There are hidden watermelons that I've almost stepped on, not knowing they are there... Good thing I guess, I don't want the neighbors stealing my melons! There is one cantaloupe vine in there as well with a few melons on it. Hopefully I will get to eat them, the raccoons took the melons off the vines in the back yard, and the little burrowing caterpillars took the last one I had!

I have to keep moving it off the sidewalk and bunch the vines back onto the main plant, the red speck you see in the middle is the planter with the peppermint growing in it... not that you can tell.
I guess a sago palm is good for crawling watermelons, and there are two baby melons hanging on those vines already.
decent sized melon. But it's shaped like a gourd, I plan on picking it tomorrow, it's got that nice tok tok sound when thumping it. The last one I picked was a little under ripe, but it was getting end rot, so I picked it early. It was still good eatin, and juicy!
can you see it? under the leaves is a large watermelon, at least 7 pounds! The plant hides it's fruit very well, and since the vines take over the yard, any chance of weeding is GONE... but I figure the weeds also allow for some retaining of moisture for the plant, especially since it's been so dry dry dry!

Sewing Diapers

Diapers Diapers Diapers.... I'm in need of more and more diapers, the one's I'm using for Acelin are just about thread bare, so I'm trying to get organized and motivated to make some more diapers for him.

I've started out and FINISHED three PUL and suede cloth pocket diapers, that are side snapping (see the snap press) These really are awesome fitting pocket diapers, and the same pattern I used for some that I made him in size SM-MD that fit him till he was about 23 pounds. He has some others that he wears, but more is always better!

This is a fitted cotton diaper with a cute outer woven material and BLACK flannel inner. It has a quick dry soaker that folds out, but is sewn in and attached to the front. I HATE snap in soakers, after using them for the past year, they are just a PITA and I will NEVER make or buy another snap in soaker diaper AGAIN. I also made this a turned and top stitched diaper... I am sick and tired of serged edge diapers falling apart, the thread gets caught and forget it you have thread everywhere pulling out. They are cheaply made and easy to make, but just not durable in my opinion. I've been sewing for 15 years, so I think I have a good opinion on that.. LOL
Check that inner, soft and cushy flannel. And yep he tried it on and it fits like a charm and soaks like a dry sponge!
These are on the "ready" list, they are cut, and ready for elastic and assembly. Cute prints, boyish, and fun, the pirates-skull, racing flag, pool table balls, are all awesome prints. I also have a few that are just solid blue cotton velour, but they are too boring to share. All so far will have the black flannel, with the exception of two having the blue cotton velour.

Eggplant Parmesan

OHHHH can you smell it, doesn't it look delish? Fresh eggplant from my garden, and basil from my garden as well!

I used the recipe from America's Test Kitchen cook book, and it is a really good way to prepare the eggplant. It was oven fried rather than pan fried, saves in oil and fats, AND you from eating soggy greasy eggplant Parmesan! With the oven frying the breaded eggplant is placed on hot 450 degree pans with only 3 Tablespoons of oil, cooked for 15 minutes and then flipped and cooked for an additional 10 minutes. It's important to cook eggplant completely, or it can give you an upset stomach!

I also made ratatouille with my same eggplant and squash, and tomatoes from the garden, and again, used the America's Test Kitchen book... It was oven roasted ratatouille instead of frying everything it is oven cooked, and then drizzled with EVOO, so good.

I think EVERYONE should buy all the cookbooks from America's Test Kitchen, and tune into that show on PBS every time it is on. I'm a self-proclaimed "foodie" which is what 18 months of culinary school and 7 years of professional cooking will also do to you... and I think ATK is the BEST of the BEST.. practical cooking advice, with products you will find in your local store, AND using basic kitchen tools! Awesome books!

dead tree in the backyard

We cut down this tree this past Saturday. It was surely dying, and a hazzard for the family and for the fence, and house. A crew of friends with chainsaws and ladders came and helped us out. This pile of wood is just a small portion of what is left of the tree, and the remainder of it is still behind the fence, and on the back fence... the chainlink was going to be replaced eventually, but we will fix the portion that is gone.

Cameron and Liam are playing some Star Wars type of fighting game.... in front of the stump. I had asked Mike to just cut it flat to the ground, I guess he forgot, he was thinking I was still musing about making it into a perch of sort or over look... hun, it's a little short to to that now... It will just become some climbing obstacle for the boys to jump off of and break something, I'm sure.

Beans beans beans

This is the one thing I know I can grow... and they are so delicious! The boys love the beans, and eat them fresh while walking around in the yard. The are delicious cooked buttered and a bit of spike on them... yummmmmmy. I wish the purple ones stayed purple when cooked though.... they turn to a nice dark green.