Hot take: 'The Big Book of Hatch Chile' features 180 recipes starring 'The World's Favorite Chile Pepper'

In New Mexico, you can get a license plate adorned with green and red chile, trumpeting the state as the Chile Capital of the World.

Now you, or anyone, can get a book that’s all about New Mexico’s famous Hatch chile.

It’s called “The Big Book of Hatch Chile: 180 Great Recipes Featuring the World’s Favorite Chile Pepper.” The author is Kelley Cleary Coffeen of Las Cruces.

To call it a cookbook is too narrow label.

That’s because Hatch chile is a ubiquitous ingredient in recipes she created for more than just eatables.

Innovative, mouth-watering recipes bound. In the “Cocktails and Beverages” chapter are lots of drinkables, among them Chile Lemonitas (lemonade) with hot Hatch green chile roasted, peeled and seeded; Hatch Chile Caramel Ice Cream Shake with Hatch red chile powder; Chile Dirty Martini with Hatch green chile brine; and a Bloody Mary with Hatch red chile salt and Hatch red chile puree.

In the chapter “Salsas, Sauces and Culinary Accents” are such chile-flavored recipes as a rich corn relish, pickled onions, orange chile glaze, Hatch hot honey, Hatch red chile BBQ sauce, and Hatch chile dipping oil.

Hot take: 'The Big Book of Hatch Chile' features 180 recipes starring 'The World's Favorite Chile Pepper'

There are also chapters on “Appetizers and Shareables,” “Salads and Sides,” “Soups and Stews,” “Entrées,” “Breakfast,” “Desserts” and “Burgers, Sandwiches, and Flatbreads”; of course, you’ll find several takes on the classic green chile cheeseburger.

The “Desserts” chapter has, for example, a spicy bananas flambé, chile pecan brittle, and creamy Mexican chocolate fudge.

“The focus of the book is to show how Hatch chile can be used to flavor and elevate all different types of food,” Coffeen said in a phone interview.

Throughout the book Coffeen sprinkles in a number of chile-related subjects — the ritual of roasting chile, the varieties of chile grown in the Hatch Valley, the history of the valley in southern New Mexico and some of its prominent farming families.

A page of “chile facts” compiled by the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University, reveals that chile peppers are fruits, not vegetables; that one teaspoon of dried red chile powder equals the daily requirements of vitamin A; and that green and red chile are very high in dietary fiber.

For Coffeen, an important element of the book are the two pages under the title “Hatch Chile Marketplace.” It lists a number of retailers that ship Hatch chile products directly to the consumers and retailers. For a more extensive list, it recommends visiting the website elevatenmag.com.

“If (people) can’t come to Hatch for its annual Labor Day Weekend Chile Festival, they can order year-round,” she said.

Coffeen said Hatch chile has gained national recognition because valley growers have teamed up with the New Mexico Agriculture Department to nationally market Hatch Valley chile.

Coffeen said she created all the recipes in the book and took all but a few of the book’s photographs.

She has also authored five Mexican cookbooks, including “200 Easy Mexican Recipes: Authentic Recipes from Burritos to Enchiladas.”

Coffeen is an assistant professor at NMSU, where she teaches the retailing side of fashion and commerce in the Family and Consumer Sciences department.

She grew up in southern Colorado and has lived in Las Cruces for about 32 years.

If you’re planning a New Year’s Eve party, Coffeen recommends her Chile Lemon Drop Martini recipe: “It’s elegant. It’s smooth. It’s festive. It’s a good way to show that the chile doesn’t have to be just with margaritas and beer.”

The martini recipe contains Hatch Simple Syrup. Coffeen writes that she created the syrup to be also used to flavor iced tea and other nonalcoholic drinks, and sauces as shown in the book.