The Kitchen Door

I’m from New Mexico… The Land of Enchantment.  It really is an enchanting place. It’s both a desert and a mountain state.  Driving across it is mesmerizing as miles and miles of wild desert stretch from the road to the horizon.  It’s surrounded by mountains so the view in any direction is a regal one.  The sun sets and rises with firey grandeur each day.  The people are hospitable and genuine.  Albuquerque (which is a mile high at it’s Valley)  is, in my opinion, the best designed city on the planet (OK, I admit I am partial… especially since I have not visited every city on the planet).  Tendency to exaggerate aside, Albuquerque is a booming metropolis that isn’t far from country life.  One of the most unique things about New Mexico and one of the chief things that puts us “on the map” is our food.  It’s not just “Mexican” food… it’s New Mexican… a cuisine unto itself.  Our chile is world renowned.  We like love our chile.  It shows up at every meal… every meal. It’s on the breakfast, lunch and dinner table and even makes a tasty snack.

I wanted to share a traditional New Mexican dish with you all.  Green Chile Stew is something that my Mom would make often, especially when it was cold outside.  We would have it for dinner with hot sopapillas (click here for that recipe) and then for breakfast the next day with eggs and hot, fresh, tortillas.  It is also a favorite dish during St. Patrick’s Day.  I don’t really use a recipe so the recipe that I am sharing will have a lot of “to taste” or “between this and that” measurements.  I made it last night to try and get some measurements for you.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.  It’s pretty stinkin’ delicious.

This is my original recipe.

New Mexico Style Green Chile Stew

Serves 4-6

The Ingredients

• between 1-2 pounds cubed pork (cut into good size cubes-about 1")
• Oil (about 2 TBS, enough to coat the bottom of your pot and brown your pork)
• 3 heaping tablespoons flour
• 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken stock or broth (low salt)
• 1 can of Rotel tomatoes (the kind with the green chile in it)
• 2-3 large potatoes, cubed
• *roasted, peeled, and prepared New Mexico Green Chile (add as much as you like, depending on how hot you like it)
• chicken bouillon granules (optional) or salt (to taste)
• sharp cheddar cheese, grated (optional but yummy)

* Note: I can't get Green Chile here in Japan so I have it sent to me in dehydrated form and I rehydrate it in water and mix it with canned green chile just for the color and aesthetics.

The Instructions

Brown the pork in the oil. Sprinkle flour over the meat and stir.  Add the mined garlic, chicken stock, tomatoes, potatoes and chile.  Bring to a slow boil (not rolling as this may cause the meat to toughen). Add bouillon granules or salt to taste.  Allow pot to simmer until meat and potatoes are tender (this could take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour).  As the stew simmers it will thicken and get more and more flavorful.  When the meat and potatoes are tender, you're ready to serve.  Top with grated cheese and enjoy with warm tortillas.

By: The Kitchen Door

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