I guess it's just a stew weekend for us. And at this point in time -- early February -- I had the pleasant realization that some of the recent dishes I've made might not hit our table again until next winter. Yes, we have several more weeks of winter weather -- along with a few more warming soups and stews -- ahead of us but the end is nigh, especially for dishes I only make a couple of times a year. To that end, I decided on chile verde chicken stew, which could be making its final (or penultimate) appearance of the winter. I usually make it with pork but chicken sounded good, so I grabbed some boneless/skinless thighs. But before that, I prepped the salsa verde which, along with a few other ingredients, effectively becomes the base and cooking medium of the dish.
RoastiesKnob onions, poblanos, red jalapenos, garlic cloves, red onion, serrano pepper, tomatillos, green jalapenos, anaheim peppers and fresh cilantro.
Didn't do all of these together (peppers separate) but once roasted, I aggregated everything on the platter before I cleaned it all up (peeled garlic, skinned onion, skinned and semi-seeded peppers) and sent it all on quick spin in the vitamix . . .
Salsa VerdeAlso made a couple of sides . . .
Black Turtle BeansFrom Tracey Vowell at Three Sisters Garden, one of our favorite local farms.
Black Bean Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki VG10 Fujin Gyuto, 210mmEvoo, yellow onion, bay leaves, celery leaves, fresh thyme & rosemary, slitted jalapenos & serranos, overnight-soaked black beans, coarsely chopped garlic, salt & black pepper and 4x pork stock.
Not enough pork stock to cook the beans exclusively in it but being highly reduced/concentrated stock, I just topped off the batch with water. Neglected to write a date on the bag and wasn't sure how old these beans were (2021, 2022?), which is why I soaked them, and it worked out just fine. As long as I had the fresh herbs and celery leaves on hand (from yesterday's beef stew), I figured I should toss some in there. I don't think I've ever made any 2 pots of beans exactly the same way and this was no exception.
And some Mexican restaurant-style rice . . .
Rice Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki VG10 Fujin Gyuto, 210mmEvoo, medium grain rice (later washed), scallion tops, chicken/tomato bouillon powder, tomato paste, freezer peas, carrot, yellow onion, black pepper and salt.
A quick saute in evoo of the carrot and onion and then everything into the rice cooker. Used a few T each of the bouillon and the tomato paste.
Chicken Mise En Place & Yu Kurosaki VG10 Fujin Gyuto, 120mmEvoo, chicken thigh meat, roasted red & yellow onion, salsa verde, AP flour, roasted/chopped poblano & anaheim peppers, coarsely chopped garlic, salt, Mexican oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, ancho chile powder, black pepper and cumin seed.
Made a dredge/rub of all the spices (and the flour) and dusted the chicken with it. From there, seared it up (in a couple of batches) in the evoo, then added all the rest to the dutch oven and let it simmer, stove top, until it was just about done. Tasted, touched up the seasoning and served it.
Plated UpWith flour tortilla, cotija cheese garnish.
=R=
Same planet, different world