Green Chile Chicken Stew

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Comment by eTaste on September 23, 2008 at 5:20pm

GREEN CHILE CHICKEN STEW
WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE BISCUITS
(Serves 6)
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped green chile
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon jalapeño pickle juice or white vinegar
3 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon toasted and ground cumin seeds
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large red potatoes, diced into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups poached chicken meat, cut into 1-inch cubes*

Melt butter in a medium saucepan and sauté onion until soft and translucent. Add garlic and allow it to brown slightly. Stir in chiles.
Sprinkle flour over onion mixture, stir in, and let brown slightly.
Stir in pickle juice (or vinegar), stock, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and potatoes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are almost tender. Stir in chicken.
Pour stew into a buttered 4-quart casserole dish and top with Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (recipe follows).

*NOTE: To poach a roughly 2 1/2 pound chicken, put it in a deep pot, cover it with chicken stock (or, if you are short on stock, a combination of stock and water), bring to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for 45 minutes, or until chicken pulls apart easily. Let the chicken cool in the stock until it is easy to handle, then remove skin and bones, storing meat in refrigerator until ready to use. The rich liquid leftover from poaching is the perfect stock to use for this recipe.

CHEDDAR CHEESE BISCUITS
(Makes enough to top one casserole of stew)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red chile
4 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup heavy cream, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing

In a medium bowl, combine flour, garlic powder, pepper, salt, red chile and baking powder.
Using a cheese (or box) grater, grate the cold butter into the flour and stir it with a long-handled wooden spoon until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.
Stir in the cheese. Add 1 cup cream and mix lightly with the wooden spoon until dough just holds together. (The less you handle your dough, the more tender the biscuits will be.) Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Using a large spoon, break off dollops of biscuit dough and drop onto the surface of stew. Brush biscuit tops with remaining 2 teaspoons cream.
Bake stew, uncovered, in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until biscuits are nicely browned.
(Recipes adapted from Cooking with Johnny Vee: International Cuisine with a Modern Flair by John Vollertsen, Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2008, $24.95)