Even if you don't care for it, you have probably seen people eating chili. Fast food chains like Wendy's and Burger King sell it. In most places, chili is made with dried and ground chile peppers - RED chiles (note that a pepper is a chile, a stew made with chiles is chili). Chili can be made with ground beef, or with chicken, or even meatless with tofu and vegetables. It can have beans - or not. The basic style that places like Wendy's make, includes tomatoes, bell pepper, onions, ground red chile, cumin, and other spices - along with ground beef and red kidney beans.
But in the Land of Enchantment - New Mexico - the cuisine evolved differently. In the immortal words of that great traveller Bugs Bunny, "must have mnade a wrong turn at Albuquerque." In New Mexico, when you order chili, or chile sauce atop your burrito or burger, you will be offered a colorful choice. "Do you want that red, green, or Christmas?" (the latter meaning you want both read AND green chile sauce on your food).
You can get whole roasted and peeled green chiles in a can at your local grocery store. But nothing compares to the flavor and aroma you get from fire-roasting your own at home. The best green chiles arguably come from Southern New Mexico. The local varieties are similar to the Anaheim chiles carried by your grocer. The pods are long and not too wide. Eaten raw, they vary in intensity from mild to medium heat.
I've been a fan of new Mexican cuisine since my first visit in 1985. One of the dishes I had, that is easy to make at home, is the wonderful green chile stew. This is typically made with chunks of chicken or pork. The meat is braised and simmered in a flavorful infusion of chicken broth with chopped roasted green chiles, together with onion, salt, and not much else. White potatoes are added at the end, roughly chopped and chunky-tender. Done right, the meat is fall-apart tender, thoroughly saturated with the flavors of the broth.
This is a simple dish with many layers of flavor. But unlike the typical Tex-mex creations, you won't find green chile stew in many restaurants outside New Mexico. On a recent visit to Minneapolis, I stopped for lunch at a branch of a Tex-Mex restaurant chain. They advertised "Green chile stew with pork" on the menu. I eagerly ordered up a bowl. Folding back the soft tortilla on top, I was shocked to loko down at a bowl of - RED stuff. Yes it had green chiles in it, but it was most defintiely NOT authentic Green Chile Stew. Not even close. A letter to the home office followed - with no reply to date.
So go make yourself a big pot of true New Mexican delight. Hearty green chile stew is perfect on a cold wnter's night. Or anytime. Maybe you'll even get ambitious and make some blue corn posole to go with it!
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2 comments:
Hey, Wheres the recipe?
Here we go. . . I do not cook exactly by recipeunless i am baking and need that precision. After 40 years of cooking, i do it by instinct. Maybe more "complex" but it makes the food your own.
So for Green chile chicken stew (or pork if you prefer - boneless shoulder or loin works fine):
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large anaheim green chile, fire-roasted, peeled, seeded, and chopped; AND
1 poblano green chile, roasted peeled seeded chopped;
OR - if you can not fire-roast your own, you can use 2 cans of whole green chiles. I prefer whole because it is easy to remove any remaining seeds. Save the can liquid if using these.
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 quart chicken broth (I use the organic stuff in the box/carton)
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into approximately 1" pieces. Odd shapes are somehow more pleasing to the eye and palate than diced, in my opinion).
6-8 medium to large white potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/8ths (that is, 8 pieces each tater). Russet, eastern, yukon gold, red skin - all ok. The softer starchier types will break down a bit more, adding natural thickening to your stew.
Preparation:
In a large deep pot/kettle, heat some olive oil - maybe 1/4 cup or so. Medium heat. add garlic and onion, and sautee several minutes, stirring often, until these are softened and the onions become translucent.
Add chicken and stir over medium-high heat. Keep chicken moving to get all sides exposed to the heat of the pot, and cook several minutes until chicken is no longer pink, and becoming white. You can add some black pepper here if you like.
Add the green chiles, parsley and cut up potatoes (did you cut them into exactly even pieces, or more visually interesting irregular pieces?). Stir over medium to medium-high heat, adding a bit more olive oil if needed to keep it moving. You just want to lightly sear the pieces of potato, which seals them a bit through the rest of the cooking.
Pour in enough chicken stock/broth to cover the chicken and potatoes. Turn heat to low-medium (simmer) and cook for 30 minutes. Check the level of liquid, and add more as needed, to keep the stew covered.
Continue cooking for a total time of 45-60 minutes, continuing to stir occasionally and add liquid. Note: taste during the cooking. If the liquid of the stew seems too salty, add some water - no more than 1/2 cup at a time, until you have the salt balanced to your liking. If you like it less salty, you can use low or no-salt broth.
Your goal in this is to get the chicken and potatoes cooked and tender, and have a naturally thickened liquid - but not too much liquid. More like a stew gravy proportion than a soup. Serve when ready or - let it cool, and reheat the next day - the flavors will have blended even more.
This is the way I make it, and I based this on my dining in Santa Fe in 1986 and on several later trips to New Mexico. I first had this dish at the Water Street Cafe in Santa Fe.
Enjoy this delicious regional dish.
complexly yours, cmplxty
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