A little bit SPICY

My mother would spend her summers in New Mexico with her favorite Grandmother.  She has such fond memories of  the Green Chile Peppers that New Mexico is famous for.  Everything at every restraunt has the option of adding the wonderful pepper.  The "pepper farmers" and just about everyone else that lives there will roast the peppers.  My mom has talked about the "wonderful roasted smells" of her childhood.  As I was looking through Homeland's weekly flyer I found an add for "Hatch Green Chile Peppers" at 0.99 a pound or you could buy a case for $18.99!  I knew right then and there that I would be buying a case and that my mother and I would be processing them for later use.  So after work I drove to the Guthrie Homeland (ugh).  The produce woman was very helpful and went through the box with me taking out the rotting peppers and replacing them with fresh ones.

There were SEVERAL steps from start to finish.

STEP 1  Wash Peppers

 STEP 2  Cut off the TOPS and BOTTOMS

STEP 3  Roast Peppers  It is very important to roast these puppies till they are black all over. Don't just have a few black blisters here and there.  Believe me you will thank me in the next step.  You aren't going to burn or ruin them. It's okay if they get soft. 

STEP 4 Place peppers in a paper bag to "sweat" for 15-20 minutes

STEP 5  Place peppers in a bowl full of water and with a knife split the peppers down one side. Take out the seeds and peel the peppers. The skins should just slide off (I don't have any pictures of this process. It took forever and I wasn't thinking about pictures)   Place peeled peppers in a bowl and discard peelings DO NOT PUT DOWN THE DRAIN!  Discard into the trash or your compost pile.

It seems like A LOT of work for not a lot of product, but after they are put in jars you can see how much you really did.

STEP 6  Cut peppers to your desired size and place in clean glass jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Fill with water to the top of the peppers. We chose to dice most of them and leave the rest whole. The ones we diced we placed in 1/2 pint jars and the ones we left whole are in 1 pint jars.  For half pints add 1/4 tsp of kosher salt and for pints add 1/2 tsp of kosher salt OPTIONAL.

 *Be sure to run your finger over and around the lip of the jar. You are checking for any cracks or nicks. The jars will not seal if there are either of these* click here for picture

STEP 7  Place NEW lids in a pot and bring to a boil  *Don't reuse lids because they will not seal*

STEP 8   *VERY IMPORTANT* With a clean damp rag wipe the rims of all the glass jars. You want to make sure it clean and free of salt or anything else.  The jars will not seal if you skip this step.  Screw on the lid loosely.

STEP 9  Place jars in your pressure cooker. We were able to get all of our 1/2 pint jars in at one time. We used the spacer so we were able to have two rows. I know there were over 20 jars.  We had to do the pint jars in another batch.  Pour 2-3 inches of water into the pressure cooker. Place lid on top and lock it into place.  This is a pretty old pressure cooker.  My mother got it as a wedding gift and didn't use it till last year.

Sadly this is the only picture I have of the closed pressure cooker. 

STEP 10  Turn your pressure cooker on HIGH and bring to a boil. At this time don't place the weight onto the lid yet.  When steam is spurting out of the lid place the weight on top.  The gauge will tell you when to start timing.

STEP 11  Once your gauge has reached 15 lbs start timing.  You will process the peppers at 15lbs for 35 minutes.  When 35 minutes have passed TURN OFF the burner and very carefully take off the gauge.  Make sure you remove it away from your face.  A LOT of steam is going to escape and can BURN YOU if you are not careful.  After all the steam has escaped let the pressure cooker sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. You will hear "pops" and "metallic clicks" those are the jars sealing. 

STEP 12 Unlock the lid and take the jars out and place on a towel so they can cool completely. Don't shake or mess with the jars until they are completely cooled.  The jars that didn't seal in the pressure cooker should seal once they have set for a bit and cooled off.  To make sure you have a seal with your finger press the top of the lid. If it moves up and down or makes a noise it did not seal.  After they have cooled for several hours screw the lids on tight and  take a damp dish towel and wipe the jars clean.  Make sure to date the top of your lids.

We are super excited at how they came out.  They look just like the green chile's you can buy in the small tin cans.  After we had completed the process we both decided we would do this again.  The hardest part was peeling the skins off.  We didn't get them completely black, so they didn't just slip off.  They took forever and by the end my back was killing me. We had a jar not seal and instead of getting a new lid and processing it again we put it in the fridge and used it over the next couple of days.  THEY WERE DELISH!