WineLovers Discussion Group

Well, Bob, it's really more of a method than a recipe. And everyone and their grandmother in New Mexico has a different version.

Basically brown a pound or two of pork stew meat in a bit of olive oil. Throw in some chopped onions and a goodly amount of minced garlic. (I use lots of both.) Let it cook for a couple minutes, but don't let the garlic start to burn. Pour it all into a slow cooker.

Add a quart or so of good chicken or beef stock. Add some cumin and ground black pepper.

Next roast some poblanos, serranos, and hot New Mexico green chiles. Chop and add to the cooker. If you can't find fresh where you are, check out the freezer section for Bueno Green Chile. It comes in a little tub and really isn't bad. Comes in several heat levels too.

Now here is where people start to really vary..... at this point lots of things can be added such as pinto beans, cubed potatoes, tomatoes. I tend to add a few potatoes now and then, especially if cooking for other people. Hardly ever add beans, and never add tomatoes. Also.... I do not use "soap weed" aka cilantro.

Let it cook and meld flavors all day.

I generally serve this with warm flour tortillas, a green salad, and Tres Leches ice cream for dessert. (When feeling lazy or exhausted, I skip the salad. )

Cynthia, thanks for posting this.... several years ago I visited a friend of mine who works at LANL and he took me for lunch to, I think the VFW in Los Alamos and for a couple of bucks we had some amazing food and just as much as we could eat. This recipe reminds me a lot of that, I could smell it just reading your post.

I can't wait to try this,,, SOON.

You're quite welcome, Scott. Since I've been living in New Mexico I have grown quite fond of many of the local "comfort foods."

I am fortunate in that one of my best friends owns a pretty nice restaurant locally, and while he does things like steaks and chops and seafood, he also features many of his grandmother's New Mexican recipes. Yum!

Cynthia Wenslow wrote:Well, Bob, it's really more of a method than a recipe. And everyone and their grandmother in New Mexico has a different version.

Basically brown a pound or two of pork stew meat in a bit of olive oil. Throw in some chopped onions and a goodly amount of minced garlic. (I use lots of both.) Let it cook for a couple minutes, but don't let the garlic start to burn. Pour it all into a slow cooker.

Add a quart or so of good chicken or beef stock. Add some cumin and ground black pepper.

Next roast some poblanos, serranos, and hot New Mexico green chiles. Chop and add to the cooker. If you can't find fresh where you are, check out the freezer section for Bueno Green Chile. It comes in a little tub and really isn't bad. Comes in several heat levels too.

Now here is where people start to really vary..... at this point lots of things can be added such as pinto beans, cubed potatoes, tomatoes. I tend to add a few potatoes now and then, especially if cooking for other people. Hardly ever add beans, and never add tomatoes. Also.... I do not use "soap weed" aka cilantro.

Let it cook and meld flavors all day.

I generally serve this with warm flour tortillas, a green salad, and Tres Leches ice cream for dessert. (When feeling lazy or exhausted, I skip the salad. )

I make a very similar Green Chile, except I begin by roasting a whole pork shoulder and I add tomatillos to the mix.

Soap weed! That gave me a laugh, and I knew instantly what you meant. I love cilantro, but someone I knew who didn't complained that it tasted of 'soap'.

Ordered a bowl of this at the Ana____ Inn in Taos. Couldn't believe how blinking hot it was--which I rather enjoyed, but yow, I was surprised that there was no warning for non-locals. Perhaps I blended in better than I thought.

Jenise wrote:I was surprised that there was no warning for non-locals.

%^)

Lots of Mexican food restaurants when you only live 22 miles from the border here in Yuma ... in most cases, from May through September, the various green chile dishes are also hot but maybe not quite as hot as you describe ... but from October through April when the "beloved Snowbirds" descend upon us by the tens of thousands, all but a very few of the recipes mysteriously become very mild ... needless to say, "during the season" if us locals want good green chile, we have to make it ourselves ...

Clink !

%^)

Bill Spencer wrote:but from October through April when the "beloved Snowbirds" descend upon us by the tens of thousands

Too bad I don't still live in Alaska, we could trade rolling blue hair jokes.

I apppreciate the Green chili stew method/recipe. I have copied it to file and plan on using it as soon as I can. I expect that I will have to wait til green chilies are again available in my market though.

My problem with restaurants in the tourist areas here (like downtown Santa Fe) is that they insist on "warning" one that the chile is very hot ("Not Responsible for Too Hot Chile" is a common sign) and it never, ever is hot at all.

Now, out in the little villages around here one can get chile that is really hot. And I love it.

Chef, I've had green chile stew with tomatillos, and I like it. But I can't always find them even here. I make carne adovada starting with pork shoulder.

Jenise, I am always very careful in restaurants here.... I know which ones use too much soap weed, and where it is safe to eat the salsa!