American Indian Green Chile Stew
This American Indian Green Chile Stew is just one of the many dishes I enjoyed at Tocabe; an American Indian Restaurant. A must try!
I received an invitation a few weeks ago to a new local restaurant, Tocabe, an American Indian Eatery. While there is a location near Denver that was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, this new space in Greenwood Village, CO was located near my old home, only a half hour drive from where I live now so I arranged to meet some blogging pals and make it an adventure. So glad I did. While we had several great dishes, I decided to recreate this American Indian Green Chile Stew; it was my favorite.
Both locations are owned by Matt Chandra and Ben Jacobs, tribal members of the Osage Nation from Oklahoma and we were fortunate to have Ben’s brother Jon chat with us during lunch. Jon was a wealth of information not just about their family journey but also shared with us some history of their tribe and how important it is that what they do both honors and inspires other tribal members.
Surprisingly, while restaurants of every ethnicity imaginable dot the American landscape, finding one devoted to American Indian foods is a rarity. I’m hoping that will change; this was such a fantastic experience. The restaurant is defined as ‘fast casual’ but still I had no idea what to expect before getting there.
Everyone in our party was impressed with the clean, contemporary feel that included subtle touches that speak of the owners heritage; some as simple yet meaningful as framed boxes on the main wall that holds various beans that would be standard diet fare in their tribe.
The menu has its roots in the Osage Indian tribe and while some might think the food closely related to Mexican cuisine; we found it completely unique. While both may have dishes called ‘tacos’ we found the Indian tacos a unique and delicious surprise and most decidedly not something one would find at a Mexican restaurant.
In addition to the tacos (made with either beef or bison) they serve Indian Nachos, Bison Ribs and this Green Chile Stew along with Indian Frybread. We had a tasting of all of their sauces even the hotsy totsy one (yes, hot but still such great flavor). There were four in my party and our meal was spent with a full mouth with the occasional moment to declare, again, ‘Wow this is good!’
Dessert? As much as we loved everything we tried, I do believe the simple dessert Jon gave us held our hearts. Indian Fry Bread Nuggets were dusted with powdered sugar and served with this luscious berry sauce. So very simple and yet a great compliment to our lunch; cooling down the heat a bit with something so delightfully sweet.
My friend Holly of the blog A Baker’s House decided to recreate the Wojapi, an American Indian Berry Sauce; it’s next on my agenda. Holly kindly loaned me her beautiful photo above; but even better, if you scoot over to her site you can get the recipe too. I worry about making fry bread; it’s so addictive I fear someone would have to pull me through the door if I started making it on a regular basis!
We each chose from the menu for our lunch but Jon brought several samples of options we hadn’t ordered to our table. I loved everything but I knew even then that I would HAVE to make this American Indian Green Chile Stew if the Broncos made it to the Super Bowl. I read that people outside of Denver mistakenly think a Denver Omelet is our iconic namesake. Not to anyone in Denver!
We like our foods spicy and love those green chiles (you should see the stands dotted all over the city during Hatch Chile time) so if looking for a dish that would be akin to a Denver specialty to serve at a Super Bowl party I think this is about as good as it gets. More standard fare found throughout Denver would be made with pork as is typical with the Mexican inspired versions, but this recipe uses ground beef and includes potatoes and corn from the Osage tribe traditions. I’m betting bison would be terrific too.
I use bottled green chile sauce from 505 Southwestern; they use Hatch green chiles and I love them so yes, I think their sauces are the best too! It is spicy; if you want a milder version you might consider adding all mild green chile sauce and then upping the heat to your liking with the hotter version. Remember, I’m a Midwest girl who grew to love Denver’s cuisine so when I say spicy I don’t mean mouth on fire spicy but certainly a nice warm tingle.
If you’re local, I hope you’ll try Tocabe for yourself; I just know you will not be disappointed. If you’re not local, well then three things:
- Make this delicious green chile stew for the big game.
- Root for my Broncos while you’re eating it OK? Thanks!
- GO BRONCOS!
PIN IT! ‘American Indian Green Chile Stew’
American Indian Green Chile Stew
Ingredients
- 1 large potato I only had red potatoes which was perfect for me; no peeling
- 8 ounces fresh ground beef
- Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup flour might need more depending on how much grease is in the meat
- ¾ cup mild green chili sauce fresh or bottled
- ½ cup hot green chili sauce fresh or bottled
- 1 ½ cups corn frozen - use fresh in season if you prefer
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 teaspoons green chili powder optional - although Tocabe recommends the spice from Savory Spice Shop I had no time to get there; I added some red chili powder but only 1 teaspoon
- Grated cheese optional, I used a Mexican mixture
- Sour cream optional
Instructions
- Peel and cube the potato into 1/2 inch diameter pieces; put the potatoes into a pot with about 4 cups of water to cover and boil until fork tender (not quite soft enough to mash). Drain and set aside.
- In the same pot on medium heat, cook the ground beef and lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Break into serving sized pieces (whatever size you want).
- Add the chili powder, if using, to the beef and stir.
- When the beef is browned, turn off the heat. Slowly add the flour to the beef in order to make a roux. Mix the flour into the beef completely until no dry flour remains.
- Add the green chiles, corn, salt, black pepper and chili powder. Fully mix all the ingredients and place the stockpot back on the stovetop.
- Bring up to temperature on medium heat, stirring occasionally. This may take up to 30 minutes or more.
- Serve, garnishing with sour cream and cheese if desired.
I am hosting my book group this Tuesday here in Hawaii to discuss Flowers of the Killer Moon and will make the Green Chile Stew along with frybread. I am confused – is it 3/4 c of green chiles or chile sauce? I agree with the person above where is the liquid.? You reply that the green chile sauces provide the liquid but they are not specified in the recipe. Hopefully you will answer and I won’t have to wing it.
It looks so good – I know my group will love it.
Thanks for touching base Lois; I’m in the process of ‘cleaning up’ several older posts and this one was in need! It is bottled green chile sauce, I’ve included a link to my favorite now too. And those measurements? Constantly having to change from one recipe card format to another has left some weird results…the question mark in the ingredient measures? I did not do that! Guess some software couldn’t read that / sign? Probably one of the reasons I’m changing AGAIN…so now it’s all pretty and corrected.
I LOVED this stew; what a great addition to your event.
Oops forgot one thing! In my cleanup I changed both the title and the URL to shorten them a bit; it should automatically forward to the new address but just in case, it’s now https://creative-culinary.com/american-indian-green-chile-stew-recipe/
Yummy!! This looks so good 🙂 Perfect for these chilly days
Yes Mary Frances, really does warm you from the inside out; hope you try it.
Love it, looks like a great comfort soup.
After mixing the flour in, is there some kind of liquid to add to make the sauce, like water or stock?
Thanks for sharing the recipe. Will give it a go.
The green chile sauces provide the liquid component. I did add a bit of stock to mine but I made my green chile and thought it a bit thick. So if it needs it maybe? I might add that note…but I doubt I added more than a cup, this stew doesn’t have a lot of broth; it’s mostly all the good stuff!
I’ve been back recently to Tocabe but still haven’t sampled this green chile. This weekend would be perfect! I am not sure if I’ll make the green chile or if I’ll buy it there for take-out. Thanks for including me on such a nice lunch; it is great to find such unique places so close to home.
Yes, you’re the lucky one; not far but not really close either still I’ll be back there soon since I’ve got some neighbors that want to check it out too. Glad you could make it with me!