Field Notes
Small things worth knowing this month.
The parking lot smells like September.
For a few weeks, chiles get roasted in drum roasters outside markets across the Southwest, San Diego included. If you find one, buy a bag — it is cheaper than doing it yourself and better than you'd expect. If you don't, you already know how: the same dry pan from July, the same covered bowl from August. Chiles are just bigger and need longer. Char, steam fifteen minutes, slip the skins off, tear into strips.
Salsa verde without a recipe.
Husk and rinse a pound of tomatillos. Boil them until they turn from bright green to olive, about five minutes, or char them in a dry pan if you want smoke. Blend with a chile, a handful of cilantro, salt, and a squeeze of lime. That's it. There is no correct ratio — taste it and add whichever one is missing. It will be too sharp the first minute and right after ten.
Don't peel the delicata.
The skin is thin enough to eat, which is the entire reason to buy this squash instead of a butternut. Halve it lengthwise, scoop the seeds, cut into half-moons, toss with oil and salt, roast hot until the edges go dark. No peeler, no cleaver, no wrestling.
Paint it, then char it.
A wet paste — roasted chile, garlic, lime, oil, salt — clings to firm fish and chars in a hot pan into a crust that seasons every bite. It's how fish is grilled up and down the Baja coast. Fifteen minutes in the paste is enough. It works the same way on chicken thighs.