Fall’s been creeping into Colorado lately, and the days here are doing that back-and-forth thing between hot, dusty late summer temps and worlds-better cool and breezy ones. The nights, though, have probably chilled down for good until next summer.
We’ll be heading up to the mountains as soon as the aspens turn gold, but in the meantime, here’s what early fall has looks like in my part of the world:
Hatch chiles from New Mexico allegedly have the best flavor in the world of peppers. I know nothing of such things, but I’ve turned into a fan.
I don’t love intensely spicy food but a little heat is a good thing. Out here, the Hatch season is like a religion. The chiles fill every store and farmers’ market during the time of year, and you can by them by the pound or, for real chile fanatics, by the bushel. And lemme tell ya, Colorado locals will put green chiles in everything. My favorite variation on this theme so far is the pork and green chile sauce-smothered bean burritos, surely the best culinary invention to come from this part of the Rocky Mountain West.
And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Check out this elaborate Chowhound thread on recipes for Denver/Boulder-style green chile sauce.
I’ve been roasting and freezing Hatch chiles for the winter using the Pioneer Woman’s method, because, like all recipes on Ree’s site, it’s easy to follow and contains lots of clear photos.
And speaking of photos but not of chiles anymore, look at these giant dahlias in one of the metro area’s botanic gardens last weekend:
Despite the brilliance of these blooms, though, the Sidekick was more colorful than anything else in the gardens that day. As usual.
It’s chilly enough here in my part of Canada that I wouldn’t be surprised if the first frost is before the end of September at this rate (which is a little early, even for a Southern Canadian climate… normally first frost isn’t ’till mid October).
Hard to believe that two weeks ago, it was 40+degrees Celcius out… now it’s barely reaching the mid teens in Celcius.
We’re not that chilly yet, and in fact today has warmed up to sundress weather, but our temps fluctuate a LOT here. Last year our first major snowfall, about a foot, happened right before Halloween. I was talking to the the Sidekick’s best friend’s dad the other day, and he said “Can you believe we’ll be shoveling snow again in an month?” Of course here, with our crazy weather, we could easily be back in t-shirts the week after a snowfall.
Lovely Dahlia flowers-they brighten any bed! And I’m really interested in your Hatch chilis. I grow Apache and Jalapeno ones and they are very very hot this year-and red too. Must source some Hatch, of course unless they’re so native I can’t find any here!
Loved the Sidekick’s dress too! x
PS- You’re welcome to your snow-we had enough last winter and don’t want it again!
Heh. If temps would just drop enough to freeze the damn ragweed out of the air, I’d be happy. My poor eyes…
I don’t know if you can find fresh Hatch chiles there, but you may be able to find canned Hatch enchilada sauce, Susannah. This is one of the most popular versions, but I think it has gluten, unfortunately:
http://www.amazon.com/Hatch-Green-Chile-Enchilada-14-Ounce/dp/B000H23V2A