Hatch Chile Casserole

It’s that time of the year where in front of every grocery store you’ll see piles and piles of hatch peppers being roasted. All of Austin has Hatch fever trying out new recipes and restaurant specials, which is funny because in this heat you would think we would shy away from spicy food.

I love Hatch peppers, enough to where I will by them roasted fresh and just put a little salt on them and enjoy. Those were the days I didn’t have 3, soon to be 4, people asking me what’s for dinner. Aside from the usual things you could make I wanted to try something different this year. With this baby I eat green bean casserole almost everyday and when I can’t make it I’m buying it in the frozen section (gross I know but it gets the job done).

Now out of all the casseroles out there I happen to be a green bean casserole addict. I have had some really good ones… and some really bad ones that involved lots of cheese on it and other ingredients I just can’t even type. You might even classify me as a snob because I insist that you NEVER EVER EVER EVER use canned green beans.

So today when I saw tweets about how Hatch peppers had been sighted I thought hmmmm why not make Hatch green bean chicken casserole. Are you hungry yet?

Hatch Green Bean Chicken Casserole

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
8oz Chicken Stock
1 Chicken Breast
2 Mild Hatch Green Chiles (Roasted or Fresh)
A bunch of cilantro
2 Ears of Corn
1 1/2 Pounds of Fresh Green Beans
2 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 a Onion
Salt Pepper & What ever seasonings you feel like tossing in.
Can of Frenches Onions

To Prep:
Clean your green beans. (Meaning cut off the ends if they look funky or if they’re too hard)

Cut off the kernels from the cob.

De-seed your Hatch peppers, cut off the stem, and chop into bite size pieces.

Chop up the whole bunch of cilantro (or half if you’re not a cilantro lover).

Add all of the above to a stock pot with your chicken stock adding water until everything is barely covered with liquid.  Cook for 20 min. on medium heat.  You don’t want to get everything to soft because it’s sooo much better with a little crunch, plus we still have an oven trip later.

Cube your chicken and lightly bread with salt pepper and flour and add to a seperate pan (you’re going to want a big pan to hold everything).  Cook your chicken nice and golden brown, turning the pieces every so often.  Once you have a good color on your chicken you can add your onions and garlic (you don’t want them to burn while your chicken is cooking). Saute for a few minutes and then take your pot of green beans and toss all of it together in pan, adding the cream of chicken as well.  Put your French Onions on top and cover with aluminum foil.  Cook in oven for 30-45 min.