For a few weeks each year, fresh Hatch green chiles appear in produce bins and roadside roasting drums begin to turn. Their skins blister and blacken over the flame, filling the air with a smoky fragrance that announces one of late summer's most delicious traditions.
These long green peppers take their name from the Hatch Valley of southern New Mexico, where the warm days, cool nights, and fertile soil help produce their distinctive flavor. Some are mild and almost sweet, while others carry enough heat to make themselves remembered.
Roasting transforms them all. The fire loosens the tough outer skin while deepening the chile's grassy, earthy flavor with a little smoke. Once peeled, the tender flesh can disappear into sauces, eggs, burritos, enchiladas, and countless other dishes.
This week's recipes make the most of that brief and beautiful season. A bright Hatch green chile sauce becomes a condiment worth keeping in the refrigerator, while a smothered breakfast burrito brings a New Mexico diner favorite to the morning table. Green chile enchiladas finish the collection with the kind of bubbling, cheese-covered comfort that belongs at the center of supper.
A gas grill provides the open flame needed to roast a fresh batch at home, while a cast-iron skillet handles much of the cooking that follows. Together, they turn a sack of green chiles into the beginning of several very good meals.