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“You can take to girl out of New Mexico, but you can’t take New Mexico out of the girl” or at least the chile craving that is. If you are from the 505 and moved away, then you can empathize with that statement … unless you didn’t ever take a liking to it’s famous chile. To which I say, your taste buds are all messed up, like my husbands, *grin*. You see, us New Mexicans are known to be chile connoisseurs, eating it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Are we picky about our chile? Yes! It is locally grown and in many ways has shaped the traditions that are exclusive to our State. The most famous chile producer in New Mexico is arguably, Hatch, which consumers can now get nationwide in restaurants, such as Chuy’s and specialty grocers like Trader Joe’s. Of course, I have my own favorite brands which I am constantly begging my family to bring me each time they visit. Here are just a few of my recommended favorites: Santa Fe Ole, 505 Southwestern, and El Pinto.

A true New Mexico will understand that when I ask the question, “red, green or Christmas?”, I’m not talking about a traffic light or the color of your Christmas decorations.  It’s a reference to the type of chile preferred on whatever entree you are eating. Red and green are self explanatory, Christmas just means you want them both, why choose one when you can consume both tasty chilies at once! Tonight, the choice is green. I’m using up the last of my Santa Fe Ole Hot Green Chile (hint,hint for our upcoming family visitors) and making this comforting Green Chile Stew with a side of homemade cornbread. Oh, did I mention you need to prepare yourself for the heat wave coming to your mouth? A friend of mine joined me to eat this Green Chile Stew and we both sat there commenting about how spicy and tasty this stew is. Adjust the heat level as necessary but make sure you don’t skip out on the delicious flavors the green chile bring to this hearty dish.

green chile stew

Prep time: 25 minutes / Cook time: 1.5 hours / Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
5 medium russet potatoes, diced into 1 inch cubes
4 green chiles, chopped
6 cups beef or chicken stock, plus additional as needed
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon oregano, dried
2-3 teaspoons salt
pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, saute chopped onion in the olive oil until they begin to soften, about 4 minutes.
2. Add minced garlic and stir until combined, then add in the 2 pounds beef.
3. Turn heat to medium-high, using a wooden spoon, break up large chunks of meat, add garlic powder, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.
4. Drain meat and return back into pot. Add tomatoes and green chile and raise heat to medium-high.
5. Slowly, add in 6 cups stock (I used chicken because that’s what I had on hand) bring to a boil.
6. Add in diced potatoes and a bay leaf and additional salt as needed, lower heat to medium-low.
7. Allow stew to simmer for about 40 minutes, or until potatoes become tender, you may need to add a cup of stock as the stew simmers.

Notes

Before adding your green chiles into the stew, make sure you know your heat level.

If your chiles are hot you may w consider cutting the amount you add in back.

Serve stew with crackers, sourdough or cornbread.