[CH] Re: Green Chile

The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sat, 14 Feb 1998 12:21:09 -0500 

In ChileHeads Digest, Vol.4 No.313, Cynthia Dupre wrote:

>Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 12:13:28 EST
>To:  dd@globalgarden.com
>From:  Cynthia Dupre <sunshine@mail.monmouth.com>
>Subject:  Green Chile
>
>I was recently in Colorado and I had this outrageous green chile 
>stew with poached eggs on top of it!  It was out of this world.  
>I am now in search of that green chile stew recipe that I cannot 
>seem to find.  I do know that it had both beef and pork in it and 
>it was of a thick consistency.  Everything I seem to find on the 
>web is more like a sauce that you put over something.   Could you 
>please email me a recipe for this or direct me to where it is I
>can find it.  Thank you
>
>Cindy


This comes from one of Lynn Nusom's fine cookbooks, "The New Mexico
Cookbook", published by Golden West Publishers in Phoenix, Arizona:

                            Chile Verde
                         -----------------
       2 lbs     Beef (or Venison)
       2 lbs     Pork
     1/4 cup     Bacon Drippings (or Cooking Oil)
       1 cup     Onion, chopped
       2 cloves  Garlic
       1 Tbsp    Flour
  1 to 2 cups    Green Chiles (adjust to taste and desired 'heat')
       1 tsp     Black Pepper, ground
     1/2 tsp     Oregano, dried
     1/2 tsp     Parsley, dried
     1/2 tsp     Salt
     1/4 tsp     Celery Salt
       1 can     Beef Bouillon (10-3/4 oz)
       2 quarts  Water

  Cut all measts into bite-sized pieces and brown in drippings or
  oil.  Add onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is limp but 
  not brown.  Add flour and stir until it is blended in.  Add rest 
  of ingredients and cook until meat is tender, about two hours 
  over a low to medium heat.  Serves 8 to 10.


This is pretty typical New Mexican fare and you should feel free to 
play with the spices, so long as you remember that this recipe 
derives its flavor from the green chiles themselves and, if done 
properly, that flavor should come through nicely, supported by the 
flavor of the meats.  

The thickness of this stew comes from the amount of flour you use, 
so you can vary that to suit your personal taste.  Remember that 
flour (as well as cornstarch and other common thickeners) works 
because the starch molecules cross-link with one another when they 
are heated during the cooking process.  If the chile looks too 
thin after about an hour, you can add a little more flour by first 
disolving it in some cold water to make a white liquid which you 
can then trickle into the hot broth while stirring.  Then be sure to 
allow enough for it to thicken as the stew "cooks down".

While you probably can cook an egg directly in the very hot chile 
broth, you might be safer poaching the egg in a separte pan filled 
with simmering salted water, then removing the egg with a slotted 
spoon and sliding it gently into the bowls of chile just before 
serving.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
The Old Bear