Hatching a New Idea
On our return from visits to Santa Fe, New Mexico, we always stop at our favorite chile vendor in the small town of Hatch. The town is renowned for its chiles. We pick up mild, medium, and hot ground red chile, some ground green chile, and — if they have it — dried mango slices dusted with chile powder (a real treat!).
Last August, we passed through Hatch during the chile harvest, so we bought some fresh chiles to bring home, as well. Once home, I grilled/roasted, skinned, seeded, and froze them, for all kinds of uses: salsas, green chile casseroles, egg dishes, and any number of soups and stews.
I puréed some of the prepared chiles to become the base of the sauce to accompany today’s steak recipe. The combination of perfectly-cooked steak on a velvety, piquant green chile cream, topped with a fresh tomato-corn salsa was amazing.
I really enjoy coming up with – hatching – new ways to use Hatch chiles, and I like to make sure there is a good wine alongside. I paired this with a very nice Côtes du Rhône Villages – please visit the Provence WineZine to read more about it.
~ David
Steak with Hatch Chile Cream and Tomato-Corn Salsa
To print the recipe, please click the small printer icon below.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for salsa
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup puréed Hatch chiles (see instructions below)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup corn kernels (about one ear, cooked) or frozen (thawed)
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
- 2 boneless rib-eye steaks, about 16 ounces each, well-trimmed
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Cotija cheese, crumbled, for serving
- wedges of lime, for serving
Instructions
- The Purée ~ Take roasted, skinned, and seeded Hatch chiles and purée them in a blender or food processor. Hatch chile can sometimes be hard to peel after roasting, especially if the flesh is thin. If this is the case, I remove the stems, ribs, and seeds, then purée them and press them through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the skins and any remaining seeds. I then measure the purée and freeze in 1-cup amounts. (If you can’t source Hatch Chiles, you can use Anaheim Chiles but the sauce will be milder.)
- For the Chile Cream ~ Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium skillet and add the chopped shallot. Cook for a few minutes on low, then add the Mexican oregano and cumin. Continue cooking until the shallot is clear. Add the chile purée (see note, below) and continue cooking until the purée darkens a bit, about 5 minutes. Add the cream and cilantro and cook 2 more minutes. Purée the chile cream until velvety smooth and return to the skillet. Set aside until ready to use.
- The Salsa ~ Core and seed the tomatoes, then dice; place in a small bowl, and add the corn, chives, and a glug of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to marinate.
- The Steak ~ Cook the steak by any method you prefer – grill, broil, pan sear, sous vide – and to the level of doneness that suits your preferences. I chose to cook my steak sous vide to medium rare – 130°F in the sous vide bath for 1 hour; it can hold up to 4 hours. (For medium, cook at 140°F, for medium well cook at 150°F.) I seasoned the steaks well with salt and pepper and then vacuum sealed each in its own bag before placing in the water bath. If you opt for sous vide, sear all sides of the cooked steak before slicing.
- Plating ~ Let the steak rest for at least 5 minutes, then slice. Reheat the green chile cream, and divide it among four heated plates. Top with slices of steak, then with a spoon of the tomato-corn salsa. Sprinkle with Cotija cheese and serve with lime wedges.
- Serves 4.
© 2024 Copyright Cocoa & Lavender
The beautiful weaving I used as the background for the ingredients photo is by talented Farmington, New Mexico, artist Venancio Aragon.
Mad Dog
March 4, 2023 at 6:49 amThat looks delicious and I’ve got some steak in the fridge!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 4, 2023 at 7:41 amAnd you have so many good chiles to choose from (if you are in Spain)… if you are in London, maybe the Borough Market?
Mimi Rippee
March 4, 2023 at 7:55 amThat all looks so good! I love that you added cream to the chile peppers. I could drink that mixture!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 4, 2023 at 8:35 amThe Chile cream is to die for, Mimi!
Eha
March 4, 2023 at 3:45 pmHmph! Reading this the Pond widened of course but ‘the other side’ became more fascinating at the same time. Been to talk to Mr Google of course – oh, our supermarkets all keep your hatch chillies > but chopped or sliced frozen or tinned! Our green chiilies supposedly are but distant cousins! Very much like your offering – quite different to what has appeared out of my kitchen . . . so may just try and report back . . .
Cocoa & Lavender
March 5, 2023 at 7:42 amI’m sure there is a green chile that you could use instead of Hatch. I remember when I started blogging and following others from around the globe, Australia included. The ingredients used are so different continent to continent. I couldn’t always get things but it made me see how big the world really is!
teresa
March 16, 2023 at 7:03 pmi love all of your comments so much!!!!!!!
Velva
March 5, 2023 at 11:59 amDavid, delicious. This meal can easily make you feel like you are in New Mexico. I love hatch chiles- Not easy to find in this part of the country but, when they do appear, I buy them up (laugh). I never thought about prepping and freezing fresh Chile peppers for later use. This is a great idea.
Velva
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:10 pmThere is a website that will ship fresh hatch chilies when they are in season, Velva. If you want the name of it, let me know, and I will find it for you.
Valentina
March 5, 2023 at 7:14 pmNeedless to say, I’ll be making this. I still have a few roasted Hatch chiles in the freezer. Yay! Your plating is beautiful, and I can imagine the chile cream on so many things. The salsa too. I would love to have both at the ready for anything. 🙂 ~Valentina
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:09 pmI imagine this is a pretty versatile recipe, Valentina. The sauce and the salsa would be perfect with fish, chicken, pork… Whatever!
Gerlinde
March 6, 2023 at 5:30 pmYummy, I love the chili sauce.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:08 pmWithout it, the steak is just a steak.
Gerlinde de Broekert
March 6, 2023 at 5:32 pmThis looks delicious, David, especially the sauce.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:08 pmIt’s velvety, smooth texture sometimes belies the zingy spice that gets through.
Inger
March 6, 2023 at 10:28 pmWhen we drove down to White Sands on a rained out Balloon Fiesta day, I insisted we detour into Hatch. I bought dried dip and salsa spice packets to bring back for my kids and they were so flavorful. What a delicious accompaniment this must have been for your steak!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:05 pmI do feel very fortunate that it’s not terribly far from our home! I was glad this year we were there for fresh chiles …
2pots2cook
March 7, 2023 at 6:52 amBeautiful presentation! One of these days, when I’ll pack to visit yet undiscovered parts of the States, I must go to see Hatch!!!!!!!!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:04 pmAnd, when you come to Hatch, you must come a little further to Arizona!
sherry
March 7, 2023 at 6:39 pmi think the difference in chillies has never been a big thing here in australia tho it has changed a bit recently. I really love jalapenos for the heat and flavour (my latest Worcestershire sauce has a delightfully warm tingle due to them). Love that weaving.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:04 pmI love all the different flavors and heat variations you can get from different chiles, Sherry. I hadn’t realized until an earlier comment that many varieties of chile aren’t available in Australia.
Jeff the Chef
March 8, 2023 at 7:42 amMan, you guys eat well! What a beautiful and interesting dish. I love hatch chiles – oh and by the way, I also love mangoes dusted in chile powder! That trick of pushing roasted chiles through a sieve is a great one! Thanks!
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:03 pmWell, Jeff, I have to say that the two of you weren’t exactly suffering, either… I know we could live quite well and each other’s homes!
Pauline
March 11, 2023 at 12:16 amThere are so many delicious elements to this dish David, but you had me at the dried mango slices with chilli. Wow, must try that next mango season. Your presentation is so elegant. Love the whole concept of the chilli cream too. I’ll be rereading this at my leisure to glean all I can from it. I have two large bags of red capilano chillies in my freezer from our garden, which I must use soon. Wish we could have a chat to discuss different options, besides sweet chilli jam and sauce. The Mexican influence in your cooking is really interesting.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 12:02 pmThe mango slices with chili powder are fantastic, Pauline. But you need to make sure that the chili powder isn’t too spicy. I need to border on the edge of sweet… I would definitely be open for a chat sometime. With technology the way, it is these days, we could have a zoom if you’d like! It would be fun to “meet” you in person!
Frank | Memorie di Angelina
March 14, 2023 at 7:45 amSounds like a delicious sauce! And you make your steak just the way I like it.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 17, 2023 at 11:55 amI’m a big fan of medium, rare steaks, Frank! To me, there’s nothing worse than over cooked piece of beef.
Raymund
March 21, 2023 at 1:49 pmThis recipe sounds absolutely amazing! I love the idea of using Hatch chiles in different ways and this recipe seems like a perfect combination.
Cocoa & Lavender
March 21, 2023 at 2:52 pmIt makes me what kind of chiles you have available to you in New Zealand, Raymund. I imagine you could make a really interesting chile cream with what you’ve got!