More often than not our recipes call for roasting and prepping green chiles. So we’ve created this post with short steps to refer back to from time to time. The basic steps are:
Roast (char) them
Steam in a bag to loosen the skins
Peel off the skins
Take off the stems
Cut open to remove the seeds
Cut the chile fillets according to your recipe
We use an electric burner covered with a stovetop roasting grill. You can also …
Roast directly over the flames of a gas burner without a stovetop grill.
Use your bbq grill.
Or put them on a baking sheet under your oven broiler, turning them with tongs until charred on all sides.
Now, back to charring on the stovetop ..
Cover your electric burner with the stovetop grill. Turn heat to high. When the coils turn orange-red place the chiles onto the grill. When they start to blister, begin turning with tongs until all sides are charred with black. Not burnt, but mostly charred with some green still showing through.
Don’t leave them during this step, it goes quickly. Usually takes 5 to 7 minutes.
Seal in a plastic baggie to steam for 20 – 25 minutes minimum. This loosens the skins from the chile meat.
Place onto a cutting board.
Cut off the stems and discard.
Remove the skins with your hands, they should slide right off. Don’t wash off with water, that will take away the char flavor. Discard the skins.
Slice them in half to remove and discard the seeds.
A few seeds and charred specks will stick to the chiles, and that’s fine.
You will have a pile of green chile fillets. At this point you can prep them according to your recipe.
Cut them into long slices to use for green chile cheeseburgers or Eggs Benedict. Or….
Chop fine to make green chile sauce, stews, omelets, quiches, pizza toppings, you name it.
So there you have it! Now you’re a chile prep expert!
