Green Chile Roasting

Today started out with rain, wind, and overcast skies.

But, by the middle of the day, it was at least dry enough to take Ella out

on a yearly trip to Wagner Farms.

Wagner Farms is a family farm in the village of Corrales,

which, at one time, was mostly a farming community.

They have small building on the main road in Corrales

to operate their business during the harvest season.

I start out my annual trips to Wagner Farms

with a visit to see and smell the green chile roasting.

Ella came with me last year,

and was so excited about another trip to see the green chile.

Customers can purchase a bushel of green chile.

They take it to the outside roasters and wait for their

bushel to be roasted.

Ella thinks this a really unique part of living in New Mexico.

After watching the chile being roasted,

we went inside to see their chile bushels

and other fruits and vegetables.

ADAD Fresh

As an interesting piece of chile information,

both green and red chiles are from the same plant.

Green chile is a vegetable. It is harvested in the late summer

and needs to be roasted, canned or frozen in order to be preserved.

It will go bad just like leaving a green bell pepper on the counter

or in the refrigerator. 

Red chile is a seasoning. It is left on the plant longer

where it begins to dry out. Red chiles are traditionally

strung on ristras to continue the drying process and to have

them available for use in cooking. They do dry out.

Ristras need to be replaced every few years when used for decorations

because they tend to turn brown. They are not roasted as the green chiles are.

Green chiles also have a spicy flavor to them.

They are made into a sauce, used in green chile stews and used

in everything from traditional foods to pizza and cheeseburgers.

When you order New Mexican food here,
if you want to be really cool, you'll ask for "Christmas" 
when it comes to the chile that restaurants use on your food!

Wagner Farms Roasting Chile
(not mine)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQfttbxj9gU