I Love New Mexico

It’s chile roasting season in New Mexico. First week of September. Chicken in the fridge waiting for a good recipe to throw it into the stock pot. A batch of roasted green chile in the freezer. These are all great reasons to rework my post about the Pink Adobe with an accompanying recipe for Gypsy Stew. With all the chicken, garlic and onions in this recipe (not to mention the four cups of green chile), this recipe is sure to cure all your Coronavirus blues!

Back in the late 80’s, when I first found my way home to New Mexico after a short stint in Amarillo, my pal Patti Williams gave me the Pink Adobe cookbook.

The Pink Adobe is a Santa Fe restaurant opened in 1944 by Rosalea Murphy in the Barrio de Analco, across from the San Miguel mission (the oldest church in the world). It’s long been a City Different institution and the food is delicious.

Patti turned down the corners of the pages with her favorite dishes, and she marked the gypsy stew page twice. I figured I’d give it a shot.

It was such a huge success, even the first time around, and made such a crazy amount of food that it became my signature dish. When I lived in Albuquerque, on an October day after buying green chile at Wagner’s Farm in Corrales (still my go to for roasted green chile every fall), my favorite thing to do would be to call thirty of my closest friends, leave a message that the gypsy stew was on, and wait for them to arrive with the Dos Equis and Tecate. Once my friend Bruce came straight from the emergency room after having a broken arm set. He was a little groggy from the drugs, but he said there was no way he was missing the gypsy stew. (Wow -I had forgotten all about that evening until I started writing today-that’s a whole ‘nother post -all those nights in the Mountain Road backyard around the picnic table with a fire in the firepit).

So this morning, the gypsy stew is on. I’ll let it simmer all day (not required by the recipe, but the smell of all that garlic and chile is better than any holiday potpourri). And then tonight my husband and I will enjoy a bowl and have it in the fridge for days to come. I’ll freeze a couple of gallons. I’ll remember all those evenings when a pile of friends and family would gather round and wait for the snow to fly or for the firepit to be lit. I’ll think of my good fortune and hope for the best for the world in these interesting times. Mostly I’ll depend on the restorative nature of green chile and garlic.

Here’s my version of the recipe -it’s not exactly like the Pink’s (they take out the garlic before it’s served), but I’ve adapted it over the years to make it my own.

My Gypsy Stew:

Ingredients:

8 skinless boneless chicken breasts

750 ml bottle dry sherry

8 yellow onions chopped (white is fine if that’s what you have on hand, and less onions are fine as well)

14 cloves of garlic diced

2 large cans diced tomatoes

4 cups of fresh chopped green chile

Chicken broth to cover the cooking chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

Monterey jack cheese -cubed

The chicken, sherry, onions, garlic and enough broth to cover that concoction go into the largest stockpot you own. Heat on medium for about an hour and a half, long enough for the chicken to be completely cooked.

While the chicken is stewing, combine your tomatoes and chile in a large bowl to “allow their flavors to mingle. “Those are Rosalea Murphy’s instructions from the cookbook. Evidently it works, because when I don’t do it, it’s not as tasty.

Once the chicken has cooked, remove it from the stewed portion and shred. Return chicken to the pot, stir in the tomatoes and chile and add salt and pepper to taste. Leave it all to cook over medium for another half hour minimum. The longer it stays on the stove, the tastier it gets. It’s even better on the second day.

For those of you poor souls living somewhere where there’s no fresh green chile, you can cheat by using four or five cans of Rotel -I used the hot when I was living in North Carolina. If that’s too spicy for you, use a couple of cans of hot and three cans of regular. The taste will be fine, but when you come to New Mexico to visit, be sure to load up on the good stuff.

This an amazingly delicious green chile stew, and surprisingly healthy. Low carbs (we ate a ton of it during the Atkins days), fresh ingredients, and the recipe makes enough for Cox’s army.

Final Step -Very Important. Before you serve it, cube some Monterey Jack cheese and place a handful in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the stew over the cheese and serve with flour and corn tortillas.

Enjoy! I can’t wait to hear your gypsy stew stories. I know you’ll find yourself with many if you make it frequently enough.