Comfort food of the month: Green Chile Stew
Prep Time: 1-3 hours
Yield: 10 quarts of soup
What comes to mind when you think of Latinx comfort food? It’s probably something saucy and a little spicy, much like my neighbor’s small dog. When I think of Latinx comfort food, I instantly envision enchiladas or a large pot of soup, whether it be tortilla soup, pozole or albondigas (meatballs), soups are integral to our culture and go far beyond comforting. Green enchiladas are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods so here is my tried-and-true recipe that perfectly encases both. Green Chile Stew.
Ingredients
Accompaniments
- 2 tablespoons of garlic, minced
- 5 large carrots, diced
- 1 bunch of celery, diced
- 2 large white or yellow onions, diced
- 4 pasilla chiles or poblano
- 1pound of chicken meat, diced
- 1 small can of diced green chiles
- 5 medium-sized red potatoes, diced
- 1 large can of green enchilada sauce
- 6 quarts of chicken stock
- 2 quarts of water
- Cumin
- Granulated garlic
- Smoked paprika or regular
- Salt
- Pepper
- Oregano
- Fresh Cilantro
- Lime
- Queso fresco
- Tortilla chips
Directions
- This recipe makes a lot of servings. I use a 10-quart stockpot, you might want to reduce the amount of ingredients by half depending on your resources and desired outcome.
- Set your oven to broil. Cut your chiles in half lengthwise and pull out the seeds. Lay skin side up on a baking sheet and either rub with oil or spray with pam. Place your chiles close to the top of your oven and watch them blister. Once blackened, remove the chiles and place in a covered bowl to finish steaming, set aside.
- In a stockpot, begin to sweat your mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion) with some olive oil. Add your garlic and your spices, add an even amount of all the spices and around 2 to 4 tablespoons of each, depending on your personal taste.
- When your chile bowl is cool to the touch, it’s time to start peeling off the blackened skins. This is probably the most tedious part of the process, so don’t fret if you can’t remove it all. Once skinned, dice the chiles and add them to the stockpot.
- Once the veggies have gone opaque, add your chicken, can of chiles and enchilada sauce. add your stock and water and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. You might not need to add all of the water to the soup so use some discretion, every pot is different. Allow this to simmer for 40 minutes, taste and season as necessary.
- While the stew simmers, dice up your potatoes and add after the 40 minutes is up, simmer for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. If this process has filled your house with good smells be sure to allow your bowl to cool for up to 10 minutes, your unburned tongue will thank you later. Serve with fresh cilantro, queso fresco, tortilla chips and a lime wedge, or three.
