BAYOU HATCH CHILE STEW

I should be able to make this stew in my sleep.... each year as the Hatch Harvest Season is in full swing we have ritualistically made gallons of exquisite hatch stew that accompanies the "stay at home and watch a movie" Sunday nites.

This year it is all been different, 3 times the chili has been assembled and each one was separate and distinct, but the last was a disaster..... What happened to the great herby, fruity, hatch flavor? All the other flavors were there, marjoram, chicken stock, pork, all of it, except that wonderful hatch flavor.

Be forewarned, not all hatch chiles are the same, we are not talking heat here either, no this realization that chiles just like lackluster tomatoes, mealy apples, or unpalatable bland lemons, were not uniform and reliably consistent. This was my Homer Simpson dooh moment.....

Its all about the ingredients stupid!


I have no idea how to judge a great tasting chile from an impossibly innocuous one short of snagging a bite from each one, probably not acceptable to the grocery store management. so sometimes you will be at the mercy of your vendor.

But, on the lucky occasion that you should find yourself in possession of a perfect brace of these green beauties, than this recipe is an excellent way to show respect.

Stuff Your Shopping Cart:

10 hatch chiles - deveined and seeded, medium hot, 

5 diced, 5 cubed into 1" pieces.
1 roasted poblano, diced.
5 lbs boneless pork picnic ribs, remove most fat, dice into 3/4"' cubes.
1 cup Cajun Tasso, 1/4" dice.
3 quarts organic low salt chicken stock.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
1 can white hominy.
1 lemon, zest and juice.
1 celery stalk, diced fine.
3 tablespoons fresh marjoram.
1 tablespoon minced fresh Kaffir lime leaf.
8 garlic cloves course mince.
1 medium yellow onion.
2 tablespoons ground cumin.
2 tablespoon file powder.
1 teaspoon ground white pepper.
1 Tablespoon German mustard from a tube.
1 tablespoon salt.
1 tablespoon yellow curry powder.

Start off with cubing and de-fatting the picnic pork ribs, to much fat and all the flavor of the stew gets bound up in the floating grease slick.


















Lay on the biggest porcelain cast iron stew pot you have and warm it up on medium high.
Dump in the olive oil, bring it up to heat then toss in the onion, celery, all the chiles and a pinch of salt, stir occasionally till its all sweated down.

Add the garlic and stir for a couple of more minutes till it starts to soften.

Pour on 2 quarts of the chicken stock and add in all of the curry, mustard, white pepper, cumin, fresh marjoram, and the kaffir leaf.

Bring to a boil, then add the tasso and the pork cubes, bring back to a boil, then turn down to simmer.

Add in the hominy and the lemon zest and juice, simmer on low for 2 hours.

Just before serving, bring to a slow simmer, add the file powder on top, cover for 2 minutes, remove the lid, stir in the file powder. Do not bring back to a boil unless you really like an unfortunate stringy stew texture.

Serve in large bowls, maybe a little dollop of tart yogurt for garnish and lots of sourdough bread to sop up the last of the green goodness. This will leave your lips burning with endorphin pleasure....