Cooking For Others: Green Chile Chicken

To my mind, Molly O’Neill is a genius. She’s the author of The New York Cookbook and One Big Table, and the former food columnist for the New York Times Magazine-not to mention a horde of other amazing food credits. Her books are more than cookbooks; they’re real research projects, ones that span years and cities and now a whole country. I can spend hours engrossed in the books, reading not just recipes but also whole stories, histories, almanacs.

Best of all, Molly O’Neill is writing a blurb for our book.

That’s just one reason that we’re featuring this post today. Most importantly, this simple, flavorful chicken stew is the first recipe I bookmarked and made from One Big Table, after flipping every one of its pages at least once. We’ve been known to open cans of chipotle in adobo and use them in everything, but canned green chiles were something I hadn’t yet tried.

This stew is the best kind of one-pot meal, straightforward to make and luscious to serve. I think it would be easily doubled or tripled for a crowd if you’ve having a party. The only condiments you need are some corn tortillas, warmed in the oven or on the stove, and perhaps some grated cheese. To stretch the stew further, make a pot of white rice.

Happy Cinco De Mayo! (Check out our full Cinco De Mayo Party Menu!)

From my kitchen, celebrating with Molly’s stew, to yours,

Cara, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK

**Recipe**

Green Chile Chicken
from Molly O’Neil’s One Big Table
serves 4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red pepper, trimmed and chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 jalepeno chile, seeded, trimmed, and minced
One 4-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup corn kernels (frozen is fine)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and jalapeno. Cook about 4 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Stir in the green chiles, garlic, cumin, 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook 1 minute, until aromatic. Stir in the flour until incorporated.

Stir in the broth and chicken, bring to a simmer, and cook for 5 minutes. If using fresh corn, stir it in and cook for 5-10 minutes. If frozen, cook the chicken 5-10 minutes, until no longer pink, then add the corn and cook 1-2 minutes more.

Stir in the lime juice and cilantro and add extra salt and pepper to taste. Serve with corn tortillas, charred over the stove flame.