Often, we throw together meals at the last minute. In order to have rich, complex flavors for a stock, sauce, or stir fry, it helps to have a well-stocked freezer with ingredients that are ready to use.

Here in San Antonio as in many places, seasonally we get the Hatch peppers which have a great flavor. You can buy them roasted from the store, but there is some prep work needed before using them. I buy a large container, rub off the burnt skin (with my hands I rub off what wants to slough off easily and leave the rest on the pepper) and de-seed them. Then I freeze them in small packages ready to be tossed directly from the freezer into the pot. (I buy the mild peppers in order to give myself the option of adding heat from a different ingredient as I’m cooking.)