Pueblo Chile Balls
New Mexico Chiles are the dried form of the Red Anaheim Pepper. This chile has a thin flesh with an earthy chile flavor and undertones of wild cherries. This chile ranges from 2 – 4 on a heat scale of 1 to 10. The New Mexico Chile may be referred to as the California Chile or Chile Colorado. New Mexico Chiles are commonly used in Red Mexican or Southwestern sauces and is grown in Mexico. This mildly hot chile. Scoville heat units 8,000 – 12,000.
Suggested Use:
New Mexico Chiles are mildly hot and very popular in Southwest cooking. Great in sauces, salsa, rice dishes, stews and soups. Add directly to the cooking liquid along with other spices. Use in stir fry, or add to chicken or fish marinades.
PUEBLO CHILE BALLS
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped green Hatch New Mexican chiles, roasted, peeled, stemmed and seeded
1 pound lean ground pork or lamb
1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
3 Tbsp. flour
2 tsp. salt
flour
vegetable oil
Instructions:
The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico have been making these for hundreds of years. Traditionally these mouth-watering morsels have been served as desserts for feasts and weddings.
Brown the ground pork, then add the onions and saute until they are soft. Pour off any excess fat and stir in the chopped chiles, raisins and sugar.
Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Combine the flour and egg yolks and mix thoroughly, then fold into the beaten whites to form a batter.
Roll about a teaspoon of the meat mixture in the flour and shape into a 1-inch ball. When all the meat mixture has been shaped into balls, dip the chile balls into the batter and deep fry at 350F until golden brown and drain on paper towels. 