weekend plans

as quitting time crept glacially toward me on friday, two things i knew for sure. one, i would be waking up too damn early on a saturday morning to drive to reseda and stand in line at albertson's for my parents. two, i would make ricotta cheese. little did i know, at the time, that the two events would so serendipitously align, eclipse-like, to make breakfast.

i'm sure you're wondering why albertson's so freakin' early...

that's A.M.

it's because the chile pepper farmers in hatch, new mexico can't figure out how to extend the chile pepper season. not their fault really, mother nature calls the shots. apparently, once a year this particular albertson's receives about 400 bushels of chiles and they sell-out in a couple of hours. the BBC designated chile peppers from hatch, "the best in the world." taking the british as an authority on epicurian issues is risky buisiness and about chile peppers, hmmmm. bbc or not, there is definitely a major hype over these little peppers.

it's still dark outside

the line wrapped around albertson's; it looked like a line in front of tower records (remember them?) to by tickets to see Hanna Montana in concert. as you can see people were buying several bags. i sat there in line with my one bag feeling foolish as though they were handing out glasses of water from the fountain of youth and i was opting for coffee. whatever, 30 pounds of chiles is a lot and those googley-eyed pepper purchasers are going to freezer burn their remaining 90 pounds of peppers come april.

my one lonely sack. (insert snickering and whatever jokes you please)

the only choice was x-hot. it took about 5 minutes to grab the chiles and pay for them; it took an hour and a half to get them roasted on-site. i guess i could have roasted them myself on my grill but they do the whole 30 pounds in 5 minutes in a tumbler and they come out perfect.

come on, that's sexy eh? let us move on to the next event i had planned for the weekend, ricotta cheese. in doing a little research on how to make ricotta, i came across a nice explanation and seriously simple recipe at seriouseats.com. the recipe calls for milk which i learned is not, technically speaking, used to make ricotta. ricotta is made from whey while, as it turns out, paneer or queso fresco is made from milk. anybody's light bulb go off like mine did? queso fresco! the long line and early rise would be well worth it for some refried beans topped with homemade queso fresco and a fried egg with freshly roasted hatch pepper. the recipe is so insanely simple that we should all be making cheese weekly and making ricotta with the whey that separates from the curds in the process. recipe in one sentence: combine two cups of milk with 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon of salt and microwave on high for 3-5 minutes until boiling slightly and instant read thermometer reads about 165 then separate whey from curds in paper towel or cheese cloth lined strainer for 5 minutes up to 24 hours, done. okay, it was a bit of a run-on sentense but you get how simple it is. i tasted a spoonfull right away with a sprinkle of salt and drizzle of olive oil. you will not buy cheese like this that is this tasty!

everyone should try this, it is worth the 5 minute time investment. so the morning culminated in a legitimate breakfast that also took about 5 minutes of my life.

delicate silky curds

the hatch pepper was very good but i don't understand the hype. the flavor is bold and the heat was just right. i'm not sure if it's the scorching atmosphere, the desert soil, or the rio grande water that make these peppers what they are but i enjoyed them. will i stand in line next year? we'll see if the remaining 29.99 pounds of chiles can convince me to do so. i think i'll make a hatch burger next...