Putsin: A Family Tradition

There are few things more precious to me than spending time with my family. I'm not exactly sure when I realized it, but at some point,it became very clear that the moments I spend surrounded by those beautiful people are the meaning of life. Those stories, memories, that connection, it's truly as good as it gets.

Last Saturday, my mom invited us over to her house for dinner and said she'd be making Putsin. Putsin is a cherished family recipe on my mom's, mom's side of the family. My aunties and second cousins are always making it in their homes, and it's become a favorite of many of their children. I must have heard of Putsin a million times, but somehow I'd never actually tried it. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance to learn how to make it... and let's be honest, I was pretty damn excited about eating it too. 

By now, I'm sure you're wondering where the name Putsin comes from. Yeah, me too. Honestly, I have no idea, and no one I talk to seems to know either... including Google. Poutine comes up in an internet search over and over again, but that's definitely not what we're talking about here. I'll keep looking, but for now, we're all going to have to let go of that inherent need to have all the answers. I know, it's hard for me too.

 

While I was rolling out the dough and cutting the dumplings, my mom kept referring to members of her family: "Auntie Renee makes these all the time, so I called her for tips," and "Grandma said they have to boil for about an hour," etc. We were all there in that kitchen. Mothers, grandmothers, aunties, cousins... all connected in a very wonderful way. 

So here it is. From our family to yours. Enjoy!

Putsin

Serves 6-8

Broth

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 tablespoons canola (or another high heat) oil

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sage

2 large containers of chicken broth, about 8 cups (you can certainly make you own, we didn't have that kind of time)

Dumplings

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons salt

Pepper, to taste

3 teaspoons baking powder

4 beaten eggs

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon dried sage

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.

Combine flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper and sage in a shallow dish or plate. Whisk to mix all ingredients. Coat each chicken thigh in the flour mixture, front and back, and place in hot pan with oil to brown. Cook thighs on both sides, until mostly cooked through. About 3-4 minutes on each side. 

Remove thighs from pan and set aside. 

Add chicken broth to pot and stir, scraping up all of the brown bits from the chicken. Bring to a rolling boil. 

Cut chicken thighs into bite sized pieces and return to pot with the chicken stock. 

To make dumplings: Mix all of the dry ingredients, then make a well in the center. Pour the beaten eggs and broth into the well and mix with dry ingredients until it resembles a soft bread dough. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll thin like a pie crust and cut into 2 inch squares. Drop all prepared dumplings into a bowl of flour and coat completely. Carefully drop the dumplings into the boiling broth and stir gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 45 minutes to an hour. 

Ladle into bowls and devour. 

Homemade Flour Tortillas

Nothing goes better with green chili than a batch of homemade flour tortillas. I know the foodie in me should prefer corn tortillas, but when I'm being really honest with myself, I realize that I don't actually like them at all. I will always choose the soft, chewiness of flour over corn. These turned out really well, and I was happily surprised at the lack of lard or large amounts of fat. 

A couple quick things about this recipe: First, it's not mine. I lifted this one straight from a blog called Homesick Texan (http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/), which has a lot of great recipes, so check it out if Southwestern food is your jam. Second, these are a bit of a pain in the butt, so I would definitely recommend making a double batch and freezing them... or eating twice as many.

  

Homemade Flour Tortillas
(adapted from The Border Cookbook by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison)

Ingredients:
Two cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil. Slowly add the warm milk. Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed. Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft. Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

After the dough has rested, separate into eight pieces and roll into small balls, place them on a plate and then cover with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s very thin, about eight inches in diameter. Don’t over work the dough. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.

In a dry skillet heated on medium-high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. Large brown bubbles will form when it's done. Keep cooked tortillas covered until ready to eat.

Green Chili a la Gringa

Comfort food means different things to different people. To a girl from Colorado, there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of green chili with fluffy, homemade tortillas.

First things first- if your local grocery store has fresh Hatch Green Chiles, get some! And if you're lucky enough to shop at a store where they not only have them, but roast them on-site, get lots and freeze them. They are the reason I decided to make green chili on a Tuesday... at 7pm... after working 8 hours. Which, by the way, I would not advise. Although it turned out great, it will only get better with additional simmer time. Two hours on low is what I'll recommend, but one hour would definitely suffice.

I started with a traditional green chili recipe and then made some changes that are simply a matter of preference. Feel free to add, subtract or change major ingredients as you like. As long as the basic recipe and proportions stay the same, you'll end up with a delicious finished product.

 

Green Chili

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
2 lbs. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed (I would probably be ridiculed relentlessly in many (ok most) circles for using chicken instead of pork, but I prefer chicken, so that's what I used).
2 1/2 Cups roasted, chopped green chiles
1 14.5 oz. Can of diced tomatoes
1 Large white onion, diced
1 Teaspoon of garlic, minced
5 Tablespoons of flour (3 or 4 if you'd like it thinner- I did 5 because I wanted it more stew-like)
32 oz. Chicken stock
1/2 Cup water (or more depending on desired thickness)
1 Tablespoon oil (Olive, Canola, Vegetable, whatevs)

Salt and pepper to taste
1 Can black beans (optional, I added them because I wanted the chili to be a complete meal)

Method:

Heat oil in large stock pot. Add onion and garlic and cook over medium heat until fragrant and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add cubed chicken, and pinch of salt and pepper and stir until chicken is cooked through.

Sprinkle flour over the chicken, stir in and cook for about 3 minutes. This will cook out the flour, so your finished chili doesn't taste pasty. 

Add diced tomatoes, green chiles, chicken stock, water, black beans, salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a boil. Then reduce to low and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. *This recipe can also be made in a slow cooker if that's more convenient.