I recomend pre-heating you charcoal or gas grill to high (I prefer charcoal) using the "three second rule". When ready to cook place whole peppers on the grate and grill until charred on all sides (about 4-6min a side). When done place in baking dish and cover with pastic wrap untill cool. This will help peel the skin off. When cool using the tip of a paring or butter knife scrape off burnt skin and then cut flesh from core and slice or cut as needed.

You can also roast your tomatoes and tomatillos this way which then you can make some tasty salsa.

Good Luck!!!
Jason

Good to know! =) I'd probably be asking this same question in a few weeks...lol.

I am pretty sure the jalapenos I have had in restaurants still have the skin on. Could be wrong though. It is nice when they are served instead of the very good, but much more common pickled ones.

You can also roast them under the broiler in your oven. Leave the door cracked so they don't vaporize. No need to discard all the blackened bits either... lots of good flavor there.

I just saw a Bobbie Flay show on the Food Network. He covered his jalapenos and poblanos with olive oil and put them in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 mins. I haven't tried this yet myself but his looked pretty good when he took them out of the oven.

Well, if you are going to heat up the oven, cut them almost to the stem, clean out the spines and seeds, stuff them with cream cheese & mozarella cheese, wrap them in half strips of bacon, and YUM!!

I own a Chile Grille and you place the peppers in the holes after they have had the seeds taken out and you can either roast them in the oven at 350 or on the grill. The best part is that it is made of stainless steel and you stand the jalapenos up and fill them with the filling of your choice. Tonight we had mammoths and regular jalapenos filled with corn meal and cheese...it was yummy sometimes we fill them with shrimp and lay a piece of bacon over them or stuff them with hot sausage and cream cheese. The ideas are endless. Let me see if I can get you the link to the web site. We have loved ours and use it all of the time. You can even get the grills in the shape of your state:) We chose the one with a pepper on each side for handles.
Dusty

Here is a link that might be useful: iron desert

If you want to roast a lot of them, use the broiler. If you want to roast just 4-6 and have a gas stove you can use a diffuser. It looks like a steel ping pong paddle with holes in it, and if there is a Mexican or asian store that carries kitchen items near you, you can pick one up for about $5.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000X6ESO/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=304485901&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0001ZI01A&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0HFWBNJR3137AEZZDAS6

Just place it over a burner on high heat, put the peppers on top, and give them a turn when they turn black on the bottom. Don't turn them too often. You want them to char, not cook evenly.

Not so good for juicy items like tomatoes and tomatillos. Use the broiler.

Habaneros are excellent roasted, as well. I like to wrap de-seeded and deveined habbies or other peppers up in foil with or without "grill seasoning" and pop them out on the grill with my meat (especially chicken). I roast them for just long enough for the peppers to be tender.

Believe it or not, almost-ripe green habs that have a blush or streaks of red or orange are SIMPLY DELICIOUS like this. The heat is still there, but roasting seems to let the heat "smoulder" subtly at first so that you can actually taste the pepper before the fireworks start. And surprisingly, hickory wood smoke complements habs very nicely-- probably because it's somewhat sweet.

Enjoy!

My favorite way is to 'pan roast' them on stove top burner. A good old cast iron skillet works great for this. I have a wonderfully shaped oblong flat cast iron fajita skillet that I use. But a round flat or sided will work just as well. You can do them dry or use some olive oil. I prefer in olive oil. Heat the olive oil on medium high to high flame. Place them on the pan and roll them around to coat with the olive oil. Roast until they just start to blister or blacken/char. You don't need to try and blacken/char the whole pepper just some parts. It won't taste good if you do, but a little char adds a great taste. When done to desired blister/blacken/char, place on a piece of aluminum foil. And make it a piece big enough to lift up the sides roll or fold up to make a little tent like structure and let 'em cool. They will soften up as they steam up in the foil while cooling. Oh these are heaven with any kind of sandwich on any kind of bread bun or roll or burger.