Kitchen Sink Green Chile Stew

L

Serious New Mexican food is a part of my heritage. Despite never actually living in New Mexico for more than a month or so at a time, most of my family still resides in and around Albuquerque and I make a trip down around once a year for a visit and to slurp down as many red and green chile enchiladas (always with an egg on top!) or smothered breakfast burritos as I can talk people into indulging me. Homemade posole or green chile stew are just par for the course. But this recipe for green chile stew is not exactly a time-honored tradition. Not unless you consider that my family often cleaned out their refrigerators and pantries by throwing a little of this and that into a slow cooking soup. A truly traditional green chile stew would be a much more simply elegant dish with few flavors to distract from the gloriousness of the green chile. This stew is far too chaotic to earn the title of New Mexican green chile stew. But, I had a craving and I had a lot of random bits and bites to use, so I decided upon a kitchen sink variety.

To start off my laundry list of ingredients, remember those ribs from a couple of posts ago? Well, the another advantage of boiling the ribs first, is that you end up with a gorgeous pork stock, an unusual stock to have on hand, but one that works perfectly with the green chile. Of course, this recipe could easily be made into a great vegetarian stew by using vegetable stock… the only meat I added was the broth. But the pork stock does give the whole concoction a rich flavor that you don’t usually find in a typical stew. I also had a few ears of grilled corn from the same meal… cut from the cob and mixed with a bit of fresh cilantro and onion, it makes the perfect topping. I also threw in some new potatoes (uncooked), fresh kale, and a left over stalk of celery.

For green chile, I use cans of Hatch fire roasted green chilies… the only canned variety I really like. They aren’t hot, but they are smooth and buttery, like a sweet bell pepper’s exotic cousin. If you want a little sweat bead parade on your forehead, I’d recommend tossing in a couple of fresh serrano, jalepenos or habenaros. They won’t significantly change the flavor of the stew, just the bite. I wasn’t going for hot this time, so I used a milder poblano chile for my fresh chile ingredient.

Served up with some warm from the oven flour tortillas, it may not be particularly authentic, but it was particularly delicious.

Kitchen Sink Green Chile Stew

1 qt stock (pork, chicken or veggie)
3 cans fire roasted green chile
2-3 fresh chilies (Anaheim, poblano, serrano, jalepeno or habenaro), seeded and chopped
2 cups freshly chopped kale
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup frozen or fresh corn
1 can posole (white hominy corn)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
6 to 8 new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1/2 t cumin
1 t coriander seed
Juice from 1 lime
salt & pepper to taste

To top:
1 to 2 cobs of fresh corn, grilled and cut from the cob
1 to 2 T freshly chopped cilantro
1 to 2 T freshly chopped sweet onion
Juice from 1 lime

In a large pot, all all ingredients. Bring to a boil, and then cover and reduce heat to a simmer to maintain a very low rolling boil. Stir every ten to 15 minutes. Cook for an hour and a half to two hours. Season to taste. For the topping, combine all ingredients into a small bowl, and mix. Serve the soup in individual bowls and then top with the fresh corn mixture.

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9 thoughts on “Kitchen Sink Green Chile Stew

  1. That looks wonderful! Hearty, warming and healthy – a great dish that won’t leave you feeling bogged down and heavy whilst sating a hungry belly!

  2. When it is filled with such wonderful ingredients and looks this beautiful, all it has to be is authentic food! And it most definitely is authentic great food!

  3. Thanks Ellie – yes, this dish is quite light for a stew, although the tortillas do tend to fill you up.

    Thanks Jenjen!

    Tanna – thanks! It’s definitely “real” food, but not what I think most people would expect when served a green chile stew.

    Bea – Thanks!

    No?ɬ©mie – The posoloe is certainly optional, but I do think it would lack something without the cilantro. But, you might have it at some specialty produce stores. Cilantro is also sometimes called fresh coriander.

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