Hatch Green Chile Stew: Community Dinner Fiesta

For the last 15 years, I have been holding what I call, "Community Dinner".  It started out in my apartment, every Sunday. I would cook for whomever would come.  Sometimes that would be 8 people, others, 30.  I loved doing this, but weekly was a bit much.  Nowadays, being a student keeps me from doing these as much as I'd like. But, with the addition of a small cast iron pan, people now pitch in to help pay for food, which is really nice.

Here's how they work. Perhaps you'd like to start doing this too.  I started with a core of my friends.  I send out an invitation stating what the meal will be, and the deal, which is....come, bring a beverage for yourself, and bring a few bucks to help with food costs. Be prepared to meet new people.  If you like the experience, bring someone new the next time you come. You can imagine that over the years, I've met many new people this way, and have made many friends.  Old, young, graduate students, carpenters, house cleaners, artists, musicians.  Folks of all shapes, sizes, walks of life. It is wonderful.

Boone is often my co chef for these affairs.  Nowadays, I invite people to come cook with me if they want. This week was no exception.  With the help of Peter, Scotland, and Jan, Boone and I were able to make a feast for 20 on Saturday night.

We made the stuffed poblanos that are listed on this blog, a jicama salad, homemade corn as well as flour tortillas, and this lovely green chile stew.  I also made a pound cake with lime zest and candied ginger, which was delicious, but a disaster in some ways (it didn't cook evenly so when I unmolded it, part fell off....) I did a lot of searching for a recipe for this stew and found some variation.  Together, Boone and I decided to use as the base, the recipe from the Santa Fe School of cooking.  We adapted this a bit, and the result was lovely.

Now, I have to admit that what makes this simple stew so amazing is an ingredient that is difficult to come by. It is Hatch Green Chiles.  These are some amazing chiles with a flavor that cannot be replicated by "green chiles" in a can, or California (Anaheim) chiles.  The flavor of these Hatch chiles is something ethereal. They are a bit smoky, but not overwhelmingly.  My sister graciously sent me 10 pounds of the chiles this summer, which I happily roasted and froze in small batches of 8 chiles each.

The most difficult part of this stew is the chiles themselves.  With this batch, I just roasted, cooled and then froze them, seeds, stems and skins in tact.  This left Boone with the daunting and time consuming task of peeling and then deseeding the chiles (it is vital to deseed these, as they are HOT! even though these were the medium heat chiles.)  When you do this, do your skin and eyes (or other precious parts) a favor, and wear gloves.  If I get another batch this summer, I will split them after roasting, then deseed them while they are still warm. I will keep the skins on for protection in the freezer.

The recipe we used from the Santa Fe cooking school called for pork shoulder.  We opted not to use the shoulder for health reasons and opted to use a pork loin. I  know!  You would think it would be tough when stewed, but trust me, with the double cooking method described below, you will have pork so tender it will fall apart with the touch of a fork.  This recipe makes enough stew to feed about 15-20 hungry people.  I recommend serving it with warmed corn tortillas.

If you make this stew, or any of the recipes on this blog, for that matter, please comment upon them for others and for me too!  Perhaps you will do something that will make these ideas even better.

Hatch Green Chile Stew
5 lbs. pork loin (whole loin)
salt
pepper
olive oil
4 cups white onion, 1/4-1/2 inch dice
1 T. vegetable oil (I like to use Canola oil for my neutral oil)
3 T. garlic, crushed
8 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)
3 lbs. russett potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1/4 cup flour mixed with 1/2 cup water or broth
salt to taste
3 cups Hatch green chiles, peeled, seeded and chopped in 1/2 inch pieces (or more to taste)
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, 1/4 inch dice
cilantro (optional)

Directions
Turn oven to 300 degrees.  Rub the loin with the oil and season well with salt and pepper.  Tie the roast at 1 inch intervals to tighten up the roast so it will cook evenly.

Heat a roasting pan on the stove top.  Place the roast in the pan and sear on all sides for about 3 minutes per side until browned.  Place the pan in the oven and roast until a thermometer reads 140 degrees.  This will take approximately an hour. 

While the roast cooks, prepare the chiles.  Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until golden, about 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer.  Add the chicken broth.  Let this simmer on low until the roast has cooked and rested.  When the roast has rested for at least 20 minutes, remove the string and cut it into 1 inch cubes.  Put the pork in the broth.  Add the flour slurry and stir well.  Let this cook on a low simmer for 3 or more hours, adding broth if it gets too low. 

20 minutes before serving, add the potatoes and the chiles.  When the potatoes are nearly done (al dente), add the colored peppers and taste for salt and add more chiles if it is not hot enough for you.  Add cilantro if you choose (we left it out and had it on the side).  Serve when the potatoes are just cooked through.

Serve with queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese), and sour cream.

Hot!