Don Fernando's Green Chile Stew

1 Cup Dried White Beans

1/2 Lb Lean Ground Turkey Or Beef -- (see note)

1/2 Lb Bonless Sirloin, Cubed -- (see note)

4 Cups Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup Mexican Beer (Not Dark) -- (we use Corona)

2 Lbs Poblano Peppers, Roasted, Peeled And Chopp -- *

see note 1 Tomato -- chopped

1 Medium Onion -- chopped

1 Clove Garlic -- minced

1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro -- chopped

2 1/2 Tsp Tabasco

1 1/2 Tsp Oregano

2 1/2 Tsp Cumin

1/8 Cup Parsley -- chopped

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Pepper

* (we use half this amount and seed the chiles)

1. Soak and cook beans until tender. 2. In a soup pot, saute ground meat and sirloin until done. Remove. (We saute in a little olive oil) 3. Add onions, garlic and cilantro to pot and saute for 3-5 minutes or until onions are softened. 4. Add chicken broth, beer, poblano peppers and tomato. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. 5. Add meat, beans, tabasco, oregano, cumin, parsley, salt and pepper. Stir well. 6. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Note: you could eliminate the meat by using TVP for the ground and doubling the amount of beans. I have not tried this though. -- Sharon Badian, AT&T Bell Labs - Denver (seb1@dr.att.com)

Tony's notes: Fresh poblano peppers are essential to this recipe. We've found they tend to be rather mild in mid- summer, with the hotness increasing as they move into the end of the growing season. Adjust the number of peppers to your taste and the hotness of the particular chiles you use. Incidentally, although it's heresy to say it, this is a pretty low-fat recipe.

Enjoy