Almost everyone who lives in New Mexico has their own recipe for green chile stew. I learned to make it by watching my grandmother making it in the kitchen. I have modified her recipe just a bit to make it a little less greasy. I have to admit though once in awhile I will leave the hamburger grease in the pan and use some lard to cook the onions–it’s just too hard to resist!
You can modify how hot you want the dish to be by deciding how much chile to add while cooking. Even though the label on your chile might say “mild” it can still pack a punch because it seems as though the longer you cook green chile the hotter the final dish becomes. If you have any leftovers, watch out! The stew tends to be hotter the next day. I like to add a small tub of frozen chile (about 6-8 oz) to start and go from there. Fresh roasted chile is such a delicacy that you have to be very careful how much you add to the dish. Fresh chile tends to be hotter than its frozen counterpart and you don’t want to add so much that you can’t eat it. Try using 6 ounces of fresh chile and go from there.
For 6-8 servings:
Ingredients:
2 T. vegetable oil or 4 T. of lard (Hey! That’s how my grandma made it!)
1 lb 85% lean ground beef fresh or defrosted.
2 cloves fresh garlic minced or mashed
1 yellow onion cleaned and chopped
3 16 oz. cans chicken broth or 3 cups freshly made chicken stock boiling
1 small tub (8 oz) Frozen green chile or 6 oz.. freshly roasted green chile
2 Russet baking potatoes scrubbed and peeled and diced into about 1/2 inch cubes
2 Roma tomatoes chopped finely
salt (if you really need it) and dash of freshly ground black pepper (or to taste).
Garnishes:
sour cream
chopped green onions
extra chopped Roma tomatoes
How to make it:
1) Chop the onions and the garlic. Set these aside in a bowl. Chop the Roma tomatoes and set these aside in another bowl.
2) Place chicken broth or chicken stock into a saucepan over low heat and allow the soup to come to a gentle rolling boil. Keep the stock or broth boiling until ready to use.
3) Heat a frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add the vegetable oil or the lard to the hot pan and swirl around the hot pan. Once the oil or lard is smoking add the onions and the garlic. Sauté for a few moments. Be careful not to burn the garlic. Once the meat has started to render its fat and the onions have turned clear, turn the heat off and drain the fat from the pan by placing the contents into a colander. Let the food drain for a couple minutes.
4) Return the contents back into the pan. Reheat the pan to medium low and add 2/3 of the boiling chicken stock or chicken broth to the pan.
5) Once the stock or broth has been added, stir the contents and allow the stew to return to a simmer. Once the stew is simmering add the potatoes. Cover the pan tightly and allow the potatoes to cook until fork tender. Check to see if the pan has enough liquid. If needed, add enough liquid from the remaining chicken stock or chicken broth.
6) Once the potatoes are fork tender, add the green chile. If using frozen chile, place the contents of the tub right into the pan. The heat will defrost the chile. Stir the chile into the stew until the chile is well-blended into the stew. If using fresh chile, place the fresh chile into the pan and stir until the chile is well-blended. In either case allow the stew to come to a simmer once the chile has been well-blended into the stew.
7) When the stew has come to a simmer add the tomatoes. Stir the tomatoes into the stew and then cover. Allow the stew to simmer for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes have cooked through. While letting the stew simmer this final time, check again to see if you need to add any additional chicken stock or chicken broth.
8) Once the tomatoes have cooked through (or after 15 minutes), check for salt and pepper. To serve, place the stew into a bowl and garnish with sour cream, some chopped green onions and/ or some extra chopped Roma tomatoes. Serve with flour tortillas too for a truly New Mexican dish. Enjoy!
I’d like to hear your comments. Did this recipe work out for you? Let me know! Thanks for reading this!
