Roasting Chile Is My PSL.
A Tale of Two Chiles
I have a friend who is So Adorable. He lives somewhere in one of those tiny states smashed up there past Ohio or something and was telling me about his perennially award-winning chili. I bet he puts cumin in it. Most definitely poblanos. LOL! I want to pinch his little cheek. Totes. Adorbs.*
It’s fall in New Mexico because it’s no longer in the 90s and Real Chiles are roasting everywhere. I don’t do pumpkin spice anything this time of year or any time of year because that is just nasty and especially in coffee. When I lived in Virginia my sister and I used to order 75 pounds from Hatch Chile Express in September and roast it ourselves. They literally picked it into FedEx boxes and shipped it the same day.
Roasting Day was always full of bad decisions, and Roasting Day itself was one. September in Virginia is generally miserable – hot and muggy. We’d start roasting on the grill, earlier and earlier each year to beat the worst heat, fueled by pitchers of margaritas, and tortillas and butter to throw freshly roasted and peeled chiles into. Sometimes Lynn would make the margaritas, accelerating poor decisionmaking. Lynn’s margaritas are something like a 23:1 booze to mixer ratio, while mine are 3:1.
Essentially, each year we would be drunker, but earlier. This made us more charming and erudite as we stood over a charcoal grill with 30 more pounds of chile left. We always had 30 pounds of chile left. Around 5-ish, thoroughly inebriated, and hating the grill and each other, we’d be done.
In New Mexico, you just buy a bag, half bag, whatever, of chile, and it is roasted for you in about ten minutes. You bring home your sacks, and portion it into freezer bags. That’s it. Some folks peel it before freezing; I think it peels more easily after it’s been frozen. I like to shop at the Farmer’s Chile Market in Albuquerque at Snowheights and Eubank. It’s the last vestige of the greengrocer that used to be on the same site. Jhett is still there, and he really knows chile and his suppliers. He will tell you how much to buy and what kind.
Chile also means chile as in chile stew. That’s what we eat here. And there is no cumin. Sometime tomato – I don’t use it, but Lynn’s recipe, which she got from Trish, who got it from the original High Finance at the top of the Sandia Tram, calls for it. Up to you.
But no cumin. And I swear by all that is holy, if you use poblanos, or anything but New Mexico chiles (you can get 505, Bueno, or Young Guns nationwide) in these, you are dead to me.
First is a more traditional green chile stew although it is beef and not pork. The second uses chicken, is thickened with toasted tortillas, and tastes like melted enchiladas. Both are really fast – they come together in an hour.
Lynn's/Trish’s/Sandia Tram’s Green Chile Stew + Bacon
Lynn got this recipe years ago from Trish who got it from High Finance Restaurant, at the top of the Sandia Tramway, and made it better. I offer it to you with bacon. It's very fast and very good.
Ingredients:
3 strips bacon, chopped
2 pounds top sirloin, trimmed, and cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 C minced garlic (you need that much)
6-8 roasted, peeled and chopped green chiles (about a cup)**
1 quart beef broth (can replace 1 cup of broth with a cup of beer)
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped (optional)
Flour, salt and pepper***
Shredded cheese for serving
Method:
Cook bacon in stewpot until crisp; remove and leave drippings in pan. Season sirloin well with salt and pepper, and brown in batches. Add garlic and chile and cook until fragrant. Sprinkle with flour (I start with about 1/4 cup and see if I need more), and stir well to coat. Add broth and beer, if using, and stir well, scraping the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes until slightly thickened and meat is done. Just before serving, stir in tomatoes. Needs cheese on top and warm buttered tortillas on the side. My friend Kim used to serve it over cheddar mashed potatoes.
Green chile stew with chicken
Ingredients:
1 lb white meat chicken cut in ½” pieces
Salt, pepper, garlic powder***
1 tsp oregano
½ onion, chopped fine
6-8 green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped**
3-4 corn tortillas
At least 32 oz. chicken broth
½ cup milk (optional)
Shredded cheese for serving (I like jack)
Method:
Season chicken generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook in small amount of oil or butter until no longer pink. Add oregano, onions and chiles and cook until onions are soft. Add broth and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, toast tortillas in 350 degree oven until they just feel stale, slightly stiff, but not crisp (you can also use a toaster). Crumble into the simmering stew. Cover and let simmer until tortillas dissolve and thicken stew. If smooth enough, serve with shredded cheese stirred into each bowl.
*I do make a tomato-based Texas-style chili with diced beef. And there’s my mother’s version with ground beef and beans which is always made for Halloween. Both of these have plenty of cumin. But you’re not in an area code that starts and ends with 5 if you don’t drag an Easterner for their “chili.” Sorry/not sorry.
**Powdered green chile is widely available online and a great way to adjust heat in these dishes.
***When making a stew with chicken or beef, I will sometimes pull back on the salt and add powdered beef of chicken bouillon (get the Mexican kind from Knorr). It will punch up the meatiness in addition to the liquid broth you’re already using.