The short and always eagerly anticipated Hatch Chile season has arrived. Chef Andrew discusses why these flavorful peppers from New Mexico have such an enthusiastic and loyal following.
SoCal Restaurant Show
Co-Host Chef Andrew Gruel of Calico Fish House with “Ask the Chef”
Hi, I'm Sherry Yard. The Los Angeles Advisory Board for Careers Through Culinary Arts program. When I want the absolute best in food 411, I listen to the SoCal restaurant show right here on AM830KLAA. And welcome back. Sadly, it is the concluding segment of the SoCal restaurant show, but the better news is, is we're gonna be right back here with you next Saturday morning from 10 AM until 12 noon, right here on AM830KLAA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024. And the halos are on the road. They're up in Oakland. It's game three of four game set. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show. And at this point in the show, it is my pleasure to bring back my co-host, Chef Andrew Grull, waiting in the wings of the Calico Fish House in the Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach on Pacific Coast, Iowa. Chef Andrew, good morning, and as always, welcome back. - Oh, it's great to be back. Thank you. - 'Cause I know you've been on the road, so we're delighted to have you back in our orbit here in Southern California. And we should mention we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. Chef Andrew, one of your specialties, besides wonderful seafood is, is you love to do things with seasonal vegetables and produce and have some fun with it. And I know there is a particular item that is only available for about six to eight weeks every year that comes into season about now. It's a little early because I understand they had a vigorous growing season down in Hatch, New Mexico. But we are talking about those flavorful peppers, the Hatch chilies. I know a favorite of yours. Chef Andrew, give us a little bit of a background. A Hatch chile is kind of like a grandchild of an Anaheim chile, but it's different because of the flavor profile and the texture. Give us the chefs for one one on a Hatch chile. - Definitely, well the Hatch chile, which comes from the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, hence the name Hatch chile is, yeah, certainly a culinary delight. You had kind of a pantheon of chili gods and goddesses, Hatch would be at the top, certainly. And that's because of the flavor. I mean, Hatch chile has that really, really sweet flavor that is, you know, when you roast them, it brings out that smoky element of it. And Hatch are just so wonderful when they are, open roasted, smoky, sweet, versatile. Some of them are spicier than others, so on the Scoville unit, I mean, they can range from like, you know, 1,000 to 10,000 Scoville heat units, depending on the pepper. They've got a, you know, really a very nice skin there. Like you said, the Anaheim, I mean, you look for that kind of firm skin. It's shiny because the season is so short, you know, you're always getting those fresh chilies if they're in the store. Or, but this is the time of year that I love because you just start driving around, passing any of these markets and they're doing those Hatch chile roasting's in the front. You know, I always like to tell the story, you know, our good friend and friend of the show, Art Gonzales, who unfortunately passed away over the past couple of years, when he and I worked together. I remember he said, we gotta get Hatch chilies on the truck. This is when I had the food truck and he worked with me. And he went to Melissa's and he got like five cases of roasted Hatch chilies and he put them in the back of my car and we were driving around for really only an hour or two with these Hatch chilies. Well, let me tell you, Andy, for the next six months, my car smelled like a roasted Hatch chile and it was the greatest six months of my life driving around. - Chef Andrew, I love the story and of course we miss Chef Art. He was quite a character but also a very talented chef and in terms of bringing those New Mexico flavors to Long Beach, he really did. Nobody really did the dishes that Chef Art created and as you mentioned, those six to eight weeks a year of Hatch chilies were definitely his favorite because he went crazy with Hatch chilies. I mean, it was everything from appetizers to desserts and also libations that had Hatch chilies in them. I mean, the creativity really came out. - And it's such a versatile vegetable, right? So it's the time of year where, or pepper, which is a vegetable, it's the time of year where, you know, you really want to substitute Hatch into all of your dishes if you like them because I always talk about, right, there's only three things you want to focus on and always focus on outside of your own elements of creativity and improvisation and that's your black pepper, salt and vinegar or some type of an acid when you're cooking. Well, this kind of takes the black pepper road, right? That kind of spiced up pecante, a little bit of bitterness, sweet, earthy, smoky. So I would add Hatch chilies in various levels to almost all of my dishes if I were, you know, or I will be doing this when I cook in, you know, salads and sauces and obviously it's the star of the plate. So it works in drinks, especially when we see these, you know, spicy, jalapeno margaritas just, you know, improvise and stick the Hatch chile in there. - I had an agua fresca that had Hatch chilies this week, you know, with some mangoes and some other fruits. Banana too. So, you know, you get the taste of that fresh banana with a little bit of a kick on the back end. Sounds weird, absolutely delicious and certainly thirst quenching. So, you know, there you go as far as that's concerned. Now, Chef Andy, as you mentioned, a lot of the supermarkets are doing weekend roasting of Hatch chilies. When you get the roasted chilies home and wanna store them, because I understand they keep in the freezer really well. What should you be doing? - Yeah, you can just take them out. I mean, what I like to do is like, I'll take the roasted chili and I'll kind of pull the top out of it just to make it easier to lay flat and store and I'll put them into Ziploc baggies and then just press some of the air out, pile them up in there and stick them right in the freezer. And, you know, or do it in batches too so that you can kind of pull them as you need them and then just pile them up. It's really that easy. And that's how we use Hatch chilies, obviously, extended through the season. Back when I had flatfish, one of our most popular items in Albuquerque was our Hatch chili chowder fries. Those were just unreal. So we were able to use those for months beyond the season because we bought so many and froze them. - Ooh, that sounds like, you know, an absolutely delicious possibilities. Now, before we say goodbye, any Hatch chilies gonna be finding their way to the Calico menu for the next six weeks? - Oh, well, how could I give it this, you know, this absolutely wonderful soliloquy about the Hatch chilies and not feature them at Calico? There'll be in many dishes. They will be featured in, you know, salads, soups, entrees, you name it. So we're gonna go Hatch chili crazy for the next six to eight weeks. - All right, ladies and gentlemen, remember, Calico Fish House, Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach area of Huntington Beach. Chef Andrew, thanks. We'll pick up the conversation next week. Food fans, that's our show. A tip of the talk to my co-host, Chef Andrew Gruell. My thanks to Elise here at Angel Stadium and Technical Excellence. Kudos also to Adam Bell behind the scenes on social media. Next week, we're back with another special show that you definitely don't wanna miss. We're proudly presented to you each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Eats. Doctors in the dugout with Alan Byer MD takes the field next, and it's Dr. Byer's Olympic Special. His guest is Rich Perlmum, who was part of the 1984 Organizing Committee for the Olympics in Los Angeles. You don't wanna miss that. Be safe and good eating. (upbeat music) ♪ I want you ♪ ♪ I want you ♪ ♪ I want you ♪