“Foodies already know that authentic New Mexico Hatch Peppers make everything better — burgers, pizzas, tacos, omelets, guacamole, salsa … It’s the always anticipated fresh Hatch Cile season for the next month. Check the Melissa’s Website for the schedule of Weekend roasting near you.”
“Named after the original growing area in Hatch, New Mexico, authentic Hatch Peppers are truly a Southwestern favorite. No other pepper is prized more than this variety, which grows in the Hatch Valley, just north of Las Cruces. The valley, which stretches along the Rio Grande's southern-most bend before crossing into Texas and Mexico, is covered with row after row of these green leafy pepper plants for most of the summer.”
“Thick, juicy, and totally delicious, Hatch Chiles come in a variety of heat levels to suit every taste.”
“Try New Mexican stews and casseroles, or get creative with amped up chocolate chip cookies, zippy Bloody Marys, and more.”
“Available fresh only in August and September, Hatch Chiles are so good folks load up each summer and freeze enough roasted chiles to enjoy year-round.” The Melissa’s Website has the full schedule of area roastings.
We also present the details of the ongoing (concludes Sept. 14th) ultimate Hatch Chile cooking competition with great prizes. https://ihatchchile.com/cooking-challenge/
Our resident Prince of Produce (and a bonified Hatch Chile Pepper-Head), Robert Schueller, continues with us to turning up the heat on all things Hatch Peppers.
This is Wing Lamb, founder of Wahoo's Fish Taco, with my brother's Mido and Head. You're listening to the SoCal restaurant show on Sports Radio AM A30 KLA-8, the home of Angels Facebook. And we'll come back. Sadly, it is the concluding segment of the SoCal restaurant show. But the better news is, is we're going to be right back here with you next Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon right here on AM A30 KLA-8. The home of Angels Facebook 24 and you can also catch us on the AM A30 Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show. Thanks for spending two hours with us. We do appreciate it. And we're enthusiastically presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. We're picking up the conversation about the eagerly anticipated Hatch Chili Pepper season that's only with us for about six weeks. So you really got to get the gears in motion. And we're speaking with our resident produce guru and expert Robert Schuler of Melissa's. If there's something about produce out there that Robert doesn't know, all these years that I've known him, I haven't been able to stump him yet and I don't think it's going to happen. Robert, welcome back. We were talking of course about the Hatch roasting's that are coming up all over town before we go on and we have you talk about that bucket list experience of being at the Hatch Chili Festival in Hatch, New Mexico over Labor Day. Remind our listeners how they can find out about all the area roasting's, which of course are happening locally, but as you also pointed out nationally, but let's concentrate on Southern California. Yes. Thank you, Andy. You can simply go to Melissa's produce, that's our website at Melissa's, 1words.com, click onto the Hatch banner, roasting banner, and it will give you a list of all the retailers that we're doing roasting that. We've got to act fast. Even this weekend is a very busy weekend of Hatch Chili roasting, but I actually just got back from one local week. So go to our website and look for your local retailer, click on it, and it will give you the daytime and the location because you're not going to be able to find it in a brief story. You're going to find the Hatch Chili's fresh, but to find the roasting, you've got to go to one because not only are you going to be able to get your Hatch Chili's roast, but then ready to go, it's going to save you a lot of time, you sort of bother the queuing or roasting them when you get home and makes it really easy for the process because as you know, most people buy Hatch Chili's by the case, and they're about a 25-pound case there, and the roast down really nicely, and then you just put them in the freezer for a long-term use, you can actually freeze them for over a year until the next Hatch Chili's season. That's how you get to enjoy Hatch peppers by getting them roasted, freezing them, and then putting them into your freezers when you do them. Here here. Robert, a great experience that many of the senior management team and the list has had over the years for various years is Hatch New Mexico is all of 1,500 people, and I think that's on a good day. Over Labor Day weekend, they have this Hatch Chili Festival that's pretty outrageous. Just very briefly share our listeners how big an event that is because, again, it's really something special, and you've had the chance to experience it. Yes, yes, yes. Every year for those people who are in New Mexico and Texas, you know that the Hatch Chili Festival, every year on location in Hatch New Mexico, where there's a very small downtown. There's only one or two hotels, a few restaurants, and the downtown is about 20 or 25 buildings long. So you're thinking, "Well, how does 30,000 people celebrate the Hatch Chili as well?" I consider it more of a campout. Everybody comes out in their RV, and they're fifth wheels, and it's just one big campout up on the growing areas where there's fields, fields of football fields that have already been picked, and this is the home of the Hatch Chili Festival. There's no bigger event celebrating one food, and that is the Hatch Chili other than a Labor Day weekend. It is a hoops, and everything you eat at the Hatch Chili Festival from ice cream to burgers to burritos, salsa, even the water, has Hatch Chili in them. You cannot go without all the different foods and flavors, but one thing's for sure, they all have the flavor of Hatch Chili. And Robert, one thing we should point out, Hatch Chili's are very special to the owners of Melissa's, and there's a very specific reason for that. Ownership grew up in El Paso, Texas, which is just a small jump away from Hatch New Mexico. So they all grew up with hatch peppers and using them in all kinds of different dishes. So Melissa comes at promoting and selling Hatch Chili's from really a familial point of view. It's something that's part of their heritage. So again, I just mentioned that. Now, talking about Hatch Products, Robert, in addition to the fresh peppers over the years, Melissa's has developed this incredible line of fresh and then also packaged Hatch Essentials before we run out of time, kind of give us the overview about what's available because there's quite a line up. Yes. Now if you were--everybody was listening earlier, we're getting out that Hatch Packer tray today. And it has a lot of the essentials, like the salsa, the powders, the seasoning, the polenta, the clean snacks, and it even comes with the cookbook. So we have all these other items that you would find during Hatch Season. And that would include the Hatch Popcorn. You actually have three varieties of this. I love the Hatch Chili Popcorn. It comes in regular cheddar and kettle corn. Also, a couple of newer ones that we've added to the line is Hatch Red Pistachios. I mean, pistachios and Hatch Chili, delicious, Hatch Cashews, and that's with the green powder on them, Hatch Peacock. Yes. We have the Peacock in both the red powder and the green Hatch powder as well, a couple of other ones to mention that you'll find out in the stores with the fresh Hatch Chili. If you'll see the Hatch Hot Sausage, we do them in both Red and Green, mild and hot. We also do a fresh avocado hatch, salsa and a fresh Hatch Pancare, salsa, more of a traditional fresh salsa. And for those who love a traditional re-strap, which is a hanging, long, dry chilies, and you just pull them right off the re-stress when you're ready to cook with the dried Hatch Chili, we have those as well. So you go on to our site at malicious.com, put in Hatch, and all these items will come up. Look for them at your local retailers, especially the ones as many are carrying the fresh Hatch Chili, will carry all these Hatch Essentials as well. Robert, well done. Now, you mentioned the giveaway that we're having. Let me repeat it one more time. You have until Tuesday evening at 11.59 p.m. to enter. It is to win via Instagram our Hatch Pepper gift tray. All you have to do is go to our Instagram feed at SoCal Restaurant Show, that SoCal Restaurant Show. You will see a posting there of highlights from a Melissa's roasting of a couple of weeks ago. Really easy to find. You need to like it. Then in the comment, you need to mention what your favorite item is to enjoy Hatch Peppers in. And that's as easy as it is. We will randomly select a winner based on the qualified entrance. But again, to be able to win, you need to enter, and that is all at our Instagram feed at SoCal Restaurant Show and go from there. And as Robert said earlier, good luck. So again, remember, it is at SoCal Restaurant Show. You like the Hatch roasting post that is there. And then you add in the comments what your favorite item is to use Hatch Peppers in. Couldn't be easier and you get that wonderful Hatch Pepper gift tray. And remember, for the list of roasting's, Melissa's.com and all the information about the Hatch Pepper season. Robert, we thank you and we need to say goodbye. Food fans, that's our show. A tip of the toke here at Angel Stadium to Tony. Thanks also to Adam Bell on social media. We do appreciate it. We're proudly presented each and every week by Melissa's World Riding Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. Dr. in the dugout with Alan Byer, his Olympic wrap up, takes the field next. Be safe, good eating, and we'll see you back here next week. [MUSIC] (dramatic music)
