StovetopMexican
Chile Colorado
Chuck, dried red chiles, a Dutch oven. The gravy is the point.
Made it?
3 hr · 35 min hands-on · pull 200°F · rest 10 min
Ingredients
4.5 lb on the fire · ~2.5 lb to the table · 5 plates at 8 oz
- chuck, 1½-inch cubes4 1/2 lb
- dried guajillo or New Mexico chiles, stemmed6
- ancho chiles2
- onion1
- garlic cloves4
- cumin2 tsp
- kosher salt2 tsp
Method
- 1
Toast chiles 30 seconds a side. Soak in hot water 20 minutes. Blend with onion, garlic, cumin, a cup of the soaking liquid.
- 2
Brown the chuck in batches. Sauce in, water to almost cover. Simmer lid ajar 2 hours until the cubes give.
- 3
Salt. Reduce if it is thin. Rest 10. Rice, tortillas, pickled onion.
If you don’t have it
- chuck roast → beef stew meat. Keep the same pull. Leaner cooks faster and dries sooner.
- chuck, 1½-inch cubes → What you actually have, if it is the same muscle family. Stew meat from the case is often lean odd-ends. Buy a chuck and cube it.
Same cook, different day
Weeknight
Less time. Same seasoning, hotter fire, watch the probe. Do not skip the rest.
On the plate
With this, try
- With this dish, try making mashed potatoes.
Start when the roast has 30 minutes left, or while a steak rests. Russets, salted water, drain hard. Rice or mash. Butter first, then warm cream. Do not put them on the fire — they want a pot.
35 min
- With this dish, try making petite roasted potatoes.
Same pan as a roast or chicken. Or a sheet next to chops. Halve, oil, salt, rosemary. 425°F cut-side down until the faces brown. Toss in the meat drippings at the end.
40 min
- With this dish, try making pinto beans.
Start when a packer wraps, or at the beginning of a shoulder. Soaked beans, smoked hock, onion, chili. Simmer until creamy. Salt late.
2 hr 30 min
Same cut
Chuck
Roast, chili, barbacoa, enchiladas.