Green Chile Club Special Featuring Hatch Green Chile-Infused Vodka

I've posted before about my family's deep love for the famous Hatch Green Chiles of New Mexico.  Honestly I need to devote an entire section of The Devilish Dish to green chiles, there are so many recipes on here.  Our passion for green-chile EVERYTHING started with my husband's Famous Green Chile Stew. Thankfully every season during the Hatch Chile harvest (late August-early September) our local grocery store brings in tons of fresh Hatch Chiles and roasts them on site.  If you haven't smelled green chiles roasting, you've been missing out.  Scentsy should make that a thing, seriously folks.  This year we decided to try something new: Infusing vodka with green chiles.  We weren't sure whether to use fresh green chiles or roasted green chiles so we experimented with both.  Fast forward 5 weeks and we have the most interesting (slightly spicy) vodkas you've ever tasted.  The vodka made with the fresh chiles has a fresher, crisper flavor, and the roasted chile vodka definitely has more of a kick and a deeper golden color.  Now we have all of this wonderful vodka to play with (I'm thinking Bloody Marys.) Since the go-to drink in Oklahoma is the Club Special, it seemed only natural the first cocktail we mixed with our fancy vodka would be the Club Special.  I made one with the fresh vodka and one with the roasted chile vodka.  Both were equally tasty.  A fresh citrus tang with just a note of chile flavor and heat.  A sophisticated (and New Mexican) twist on the Oklahoma golf course favorite.  Club Specials will never be the same!

Cocktails will never be the same...

Vodka infused with fresh green chiles (L)
and roasted green chiles (R)

Tart citrus flavor with a chile kick.
Our new favorite drink.

GREEN CHILE CLUB SPECIAL

2 ounces Green Chile-Infused Vodka (Fresh or Roasted)
1 ounce limeade concentrate
1 ounce Sprite
club soda
lemon and lime wedges for garnish

Combine vodka, limeade and Sprite in a glass with ice.  Fill with club soda and garnish with lemon and lime wedges.  Enjoy.

HATCH GREEN CHILE-INFUSED VODKA

Roughly chop 6-8 fresh Hatch Green Chile Peppers or 10-12 roasted Hatch Green Chile Peppers.  Place in a liter-sized glass container that has a lid, and cover chiles with a good quality vodka of your choice.  Refrigerate, shaking container daily.  Allow to infuse at least 4 weeks (6 is better) and enjoy alone or in your favorite cocktail.