Chili - it's not about the beans!

One thing we have learned on this trip is that in the south west, chili doesn't mean meat with beans. The variety of chilies here is amazing and they put them on EVERYTHING! They ask you in a restaurant if you want red or green chili with your dinner. I usually chose green.

Nick's Garden Center is a produce-plant-chilies store in Aurora, Colorado. Today they were roasting chilies. They have every kind of chili imaginable. My sister-in-law Betsy bought two bushels of anaheim chilies that were roasted while we waited.

There were hot, medium and mild chilies.

Red, green and yellow chilies.

Dried chilies strung together to forma a 'ristra'.

and EXTRA HOT CHILIES! Is anyone brave enough to try these?

After you select the kind of chilies you want to buy, Diego washes them.

Then he pours them into a metal basket where they will be roasted with a propane fired flame. The roaster rotates for about 6 minutes until they are cooked and slightly charred.

Humberto keeps watch over the chilies while they are roasting,

then he empties the basket of roasted chilies into a plastic bag ad packs them into a cardboard box. The chilies steam and in a while will be ready to be peeled and seeded.

Diego was also keeping watch over the roasting ears of corn. We brought some home for dinner.

Humberto made sure the corn was cooked 'just right'!

Joey had lots of great information about chilies.

There were bags of chilies waiting to be roasted. Southern Colorado is an important chili producing region.

The aroma of the roasted chilies was amazing! Back home we opened the bag and began to prepare the chilies to put in the freezer.

Step one back home - peel the charred skin off of the chilies. Notice Betsy is wearing gloves.

Step two - clean the rest of the charred skin off and take out the seeds.

The chilies are chopped and placed in zip lock freezer bags, the air is squeezed out and the bag sealed. They they are placed in the freezer to await their turn to become part of a delicious meal!



Our visit to Nick's Garden Center was a treat for the eyes and nose! Check out their website:
Nick's Garden Center