Roasted Hatch chile mayonnaise

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It's Hatch chile season again, and food lovers in my neighborhood are going nuts. The long, tapered green chiles from New Mexico have a cult following here in southern California. I can get both the hot and mild varieties at just about every grocery store within a 10-mile radius.

Many stores have chile-roasting events in their parking lots so you can take home bags of freshly roasted chiles instead of having to roast them at home. Personally, I don't mind roasting them at home.

I wash the Hatch chiles, turn the burners on my gas stove to high, and lay the peppers directly on the iron grates of my stove. I turn them until they're blackened on all sides, then pop them into a zip-top bag to steam. The charred skin slips off easily and I'm left with strips of fragrant roasted chiles to use in sandwiches, quesadillas, casseroles, and condiments like this Hatch Chile Mayonnaise.

I've already made several quarts of this roasted Hatch Chile Mayonnaise since Hatch chiles showed up in local stores a few weeks ago. My husband and sons love it on a roast beef sandwich. Or you could:

• Spread it on a sandwich with roast turkey, thinly sliced Granny Smith apples, shaved red onions and watercress
• Spoon it on a burger (put some diced roasted Hatch chiles in the burger itself, too)
• Serve it with broccoli fritters, zucchini fritters or spinach pancakes
• Use it as a sauce for oven-roasted salmon fillets or chicken
• Mix it with chopped hard-boiled eggs for the best egg salad of your life

Enjoy!

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Hatch Chile Mayonnaise

by Erika Kerekes July-21-2015

A simple condiment made with roasted fresh Hatch chiles from New Mexico

Ingredients

• 6 Hatch chiles (hot or mild)
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon lime juice

Instructions

Wash the Hatch chiles. Roast them over an open flame on a gas stove (I lay mine directly on the burner grate), turning frequently, until the skin is black and charred on all sides. (If you don't have a gas stove, broil the peppers in the oven, turning frequently.)Put the charred Hatch chiles in a zip-top bag for 30 minutes. They will steam as they cool.Slip the charred black skin off the chiles. If you want your Hatch Chile Mayonnaise very mild, remove the seeds and ribs from inside the peppers. Put the roasted Hatch chiles, mayonnaise and lime juice into a food processor. Process until smooth.Store in a clean jar with a tight-fitting lid in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 5 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 2 cups

Steakhouse-style blue cheese dressing

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One of the reasons I decided to try a low-carb diet when it was time to improve my health (although I hate that word, diet, so let's call it a low-carb style of eating) is that I cannot live without blue cheese dressing.

This is not hyperbole.

The first time I tasted blue cheese dressing on a salad I was nine. It was late winter. My parents had decided to drive the family out to the east end of Long Island for a seafood dinner, so maybe we were in Greenport, or Orient Point, or even Montauk.

I'm not sure what prompted me to order blue cheese dressing for my salad. But with my first bite, these words formed clearly in my pre-adolescent brain:

I can't live without this.

I don't ever recall a stronger reaction to a taste. Not before that day, and not since.

Ever since I committed to myself that I was going to get healthier, I have been packing raw vegetables in my lunchbox every day, along with a container of this homemade blue cheese dressing. I love to dip. Lettuce, cucumber, radishes, carrots, bell peppers, celery, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes: They all taste better dunked in blue cheese dressing.

This easy recipe takes less than five minutes to put together. The key is to let it sit overnight. It's much, much better after a rest in the refrigerator.

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Homemade Blue Cheese Dressing

by Erika Kerekes July-7-2016

This steakhouse-style blue cheese dressing is packed with umami-rich chunks of pungent blue cheese. Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight for maximum flavor. This makes a very thick dressing - if you prefer a thinner consistency, add a little water or heavy cream.

Ingredients

• 1 pint (2 cups) sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon), or to taste
• a few dashes hot sauce, like Tabasco
• 1 Tablespoon Asian fish sauce (can substitute Worcestershire sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
• 12 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, fish sauce, and pepper. Add the crumbled blue cheese and stir to combine, mashing the cheese with the back of your spoon if the chunks are too big.Transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: Total time: 5 mins Yield: 4 cups

Deviled eggs with duck skin "cracklins"

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My younger son, a newly minted teenager, knows what he likes and wants what he wants.

And this week what he wants are deviled eggs.

I believe in turning out self-sufficient young men who can feed themselves - and a dozen of their friends, too. So I taught him how to make deviled eggs.

He has now made three batches on his own. Well, two and a half. The first time he didn't let the eggs come to a full boil and ended up with oozing yolks and wobbly whites. But the next two batches were terrific.

He's been seasoning his with herbs like chervil, chives and thyme. Truth be told, I like my deviled eggs a little more straightforward - mustard, mayonnaise, salt and pepper. But I'll never turn down a bit of crunch on top, whether it's bacon, crushed croutons, or, as in this case, slivered duck skin baked to a crisp.

Admittedly, duck is a rare treat for us. I think the skin off chicken thighs would work - I'll try it and report back.

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Deviled eggs with duck skin "cracklins"

by Erika Kerekes March-9-2015

Simple, traditional deviled eggs topped with slivered duck skin that's been baked until crisp. A luxurious treat for a weeknight dinner at home or the fanciest of cocktail parties.

Ingredients

• 2 duck breast lobes, skins only (use meat for another dish)
• 1 dozen eggs
• 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• green onions, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Slice the duck skins into 1/4-inch strips and spread them out on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil. Slide the pan into the oven and bake until crisp, about 20 minutes (start checking after 10 minutes - do not let the duck skins burn). Remove the duck "cracklins" from the oven and use a slotted spoon to transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels. Let cool, then chop roughly.While the duck skins cook, put the eggs in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring the pot to a rolling boil, clap on the lid, turn off the flame, and leave the covered pot sitting on the stove for 25 minutes.Drain the water from the pot, add cold water, and let the eggs cool for a few minutes. Peel the eggs and cut them in half horizontally.Carefully remove the yolks from the hard-boiled eggs. Put all the yolks in a small mixing bowl and add the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Mash with a fork or whisk until very smooth.Use a small spoon or a piping bag to refill the egg white halves with the yolk mixture. Sprinkle with the duck "cracklins" and the chopped green onions. Serve immediately.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 24 pieces