When Hatch green chiles start to show up in our neck of the woods, I have to resist the temptation to throw them in everything I'm cooking. When it's "Hatch Season" in the ATX, Whole Foods Market and Central Market both offer freshly roasted chiles by the pound. It's such a treat to have someone else do the roasting for me, and the season is so short that I try and make the most of it. The majority of the green chile dishes around our place are savory and I know that it may seem like an unlikely combination, but I love the flavor of apples and green chiles together. I use mild green chiles so that everyone will eat them, but I usually douse mine with hot chile sauce as I eat it...but I'm weird like that.
Apple and Hatch Green Chile Hand Pies
Recipe makes 8 hand pies
Ingredients:
4 sheets of puff pastry, thawed according to manufacturers instructions
3 cups of peeled gala apples, diced into 1/2" pieces
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup roasted and peeled mild green chiles, diced. The peels will slide right off under a little running water.
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
flour for dusting the workspace
egg for egg wash
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the lemon juice with the apples to keep them from browning. Stir in the diced green chiles. In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt. Thoroughly mix these dry ingredients into the apple mixture. Set aside. In a small bowl beat the egg for the eggwash. Lightly flour a work surface for cutting out the puff pastry circles. Using a bowl as your cutter, you should be able to get 2 circles from each sheet of puff pastry sheet. The circles should be 5-6" in diameter. Fill in half of the circle with the apple filling. Each pie will need 2-3 full tablespoons of filling depending on the size of your circles. Brush along half of the edge of your circle with egg wash. Fold in half, tucking the filling inside as you go along and pinch closed, or seal with the tines of a fork. Cut a 1" slit in the top for a vent. Brush the top with the egg wash. Place on a parchment or silicone baking mat on a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining hand pies. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
These pies are also really yummy if you serve them fresh out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.