Chicken Green Chile Stew August 2009

I made this earlier in the week but was too tired (lazy) to post. I had green chiles in the fridge that I bought the week before from Sunflower Market. This was their first shipment of green chiles this season. I read that the chile growers in Hatch had an awesome harvest this year so the green chiles started showing up a few weeks earlier. The green chiles will also be shipped to other parts of the country that usually do not receive green chile shipments.

Since it wasn't the height of green chile season, the roaster in front of the store did not continually roast them. You can get roasted chiles but you had to wait. I was in a rush so I took the chiles home unroasted. (I usually roast my own poblanos and jalapenos during the off season.)

I won't repost the recipe because I base it off my regular recipe with minor adjustments. Sometimes I will use fresh tomatoes and other times I will use canned. I use fresh tomatillos when I can find them but chile verde works just as well. I will vary the meat. I sometimes will cook a whole piece of pork loin or butt but cubed pork or chicken works. I am a little careful with chicken breast because I don't like to over cook it or it will dry out. This time I used a mix of thighs and bone-in breasts. I slightly undercooked both, pulled them out and shredded the chicken before returning it to the pot.

The one thing that I never sub are the chiles. I don't use canned chiles. The chiles have to be freshly roasted or frozen freshly roasted. Chile season is not very long so I rely on frozen green chiles. I, however, always add a few freshly roasted poblanos and jalapenos or serranos. Poblanos, serranos and jalapenos can be found fresh all year round.

I start with a mix of three types of peppers (hatch, poblanos and jalapenos). I use mostly hatch but add two poblanos and one very large jalapeno. The mix of chiles adds to the complexity of flavors.

Roast the green chiles and place them in a large container with a cover.

Wait about half an hour and the chiles should be cool and the skins should come off easily. Use gloves or your hands will hate you.

Make a slit down the chile. Remove the tops and under running water, slip off the skin and remove the seeds.

Should look like this.

Same chile but from the outside.

Dice them up.

Chile looks like this before adding the corn and cilantro.

Here is the finished stew. I like adding potatoes and corn for a heartier stew. I omit the potatoes and corn when I want to use it as a sauce for enchiladas or breakfast burritos. This time I used chicken thighs and shredded the meat before adding it back into the stew.

Ladle into a bowl and top with some shredded cheese and serve with a tortilla.