New Mexico Style Pork and Green Chile Stew

A pork stew with roasted green chiles, onions, garlic, and tomatoes with flavors that remind me of Hatch chile season.

Every summer, usually late July or early August, my favorite Mexican market roasts Hatch chiles outdoors in the front of the store. Customers can buy large bags of the fresh chiles and the store will roast them. The aroma is intoxicating.

Even though I used my oven instead of fire for roasting the chiles for this New Mexico Style Pork and Green Chile Stew, when I opened my oven door, the blast of the smell of roasting chiles still reminded me of that wonderful season.

For this stew, I used large fresh poblano chiles. I wanted a milder chile for this stew, and the poblanos worked beautifully. To roast them, I cut the chiles in half lengthwise and then broiled them on foil lined baking sheets until the skins blackened. Then I let them steam in a bowl covered with plastic wrap before removing the skins.

We had this delicious stew with tortillas, but you could serve it over rice.

While this recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of pork butt/shoulder, I was only able to find a 5 pound bone-in roast, so I made three dishes from the roast: this stew, as well as these carnitas, and this delicious Chinese barbecue pork, aka "meat candy."

This is a really easy recipe to make, and is really delicious. You can roast the chiles in advance, and make this stew the next day. The leftovers the second day were even better than the the freshly made stew.

stew, New Mexico, Hatch chiles, poblanos, pork

Stew, Main dish, Mexican

Mexican

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

New Mexico Style Pork and Green Chile Stew

ingredients:

Roasted Green Chiles

• 5 to 6 large poblano chiles, sliced in half, lengthwise, stems and seeds removed. 

Pork and Green Chile Stew

• 1 1/2 pounds pork butt/shoulder, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 large yellow or sweet onion, chopped
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup water
• 1-14 ounce can diced tomatoes, including the liquid
• Roasted poblano chiles (see instructions below)
• Sprinkle of garlic powder
• Chopped fresh cilantro garnish

instructions:

To Make the Chiles

1. Line a half sheet pan with foil and place the broiler rack about 5 inches below the heat source. 
2. Place the poblano halves, skin side up, on the foil lined pan, and broil the chiles until the skins have darkened and blistered. 
3. Remove the sheet pan from the oven and gather up the chiles in the foil. Place the foil into a large bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. When the chiles are cool enough to handle, peel off the skins and chop the chiles into 1 inch pieces. 

To Make the Stew

1. Heat a Dutch oven or deep 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork, and cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chopped onion and sprinkle some salt over the top. Cook for about 5 minutes more. 
2. Add the garlic, tomatoes, and the cup of water. Bring the mixture to a boil and let it boil for about 2 to 3 minutes. 
3. Add the roasted chiles, another sprinkle of salt, the sprinkle of garlic powder, and reduce the heat to medium low. Partly cover the pan and cook for 6 to 10 minutes, until there is just enough liquid for a juicy, but not soupy stew.  Taste to see if you need to add more salt. Garnish with chopped cilantro. 

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2018/05/new-mexico-style-pork-and-green-chile.html

This recipe was adapted from Mark Bittman's Kitchen Matrix: More Than 700 Simple Recipes and Techniques to Mix and Match for Endless Possibilities. Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla, and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm are cooking their way through the book, and I'm joining in as often as I can. I totally recommend this cookbook.

An InLinkz Link-up

If you're interested, here's a cool video from my favorite Mexican grocery store in southern California about Hatch chile roasting season.