Green Chili

I love green chili. Mexican food is one of my favorite cuisines in general, and I think that is largely due to the fact that most of it is a vehicle for the green chili. Until recently I just went to places that I liked and bought theirs, but I decided to give it a go myself. (It's kinda pricey to buy from a decent restaurant, and I no longer live near the place that is my favorite anyway.)

Since this was my first attempt at it, I decided to go look online for a starting point. Not surprisingly, there are a ton of people posting their recipes varying all the spices and ingredients. In my opinion, pork is the best way to go, and I like it spicy. I found a recipe on a blog which I recommend checking out.

Kirsten's Home Cooking

She has some good stuff on there- she even has a recipe for devilled eggs made with quail eggs! I should have known there was a more labor intensive way to make those things.

At any rate, here is Kirsten's chili that I started with:

Green Chili with Pork (Chili Verde):
(serves 4-6)
2.5 lbs pork shoulder or boneless country-style ribs, cubed
6 Pasilla chilies (those dark, fat forest green ones)
4 Anaheim chilies (longer, skinny grass-green ones)
2 Serrano chilies (look like little, dark jalapenos), sliced thinly
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbs ground cumin
1 tbs dried Mexican oregano (can use regular)
4 c chicken broth
2 c water
Olive oil as needed for searing meat
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Blacken all chili peppers (except Serrano chilies - leave those raw) by holding with tongs over a gas flame or roasting under a broiler. Place in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Once cool to the touch, carefully peel skin of all peppers. Remove as many of the seeds as you can, roughly chop chilies and set stand.

Rub pork with cumin, salt and pepper, sear in a large stock pot, remove to a plate. Saute onions, garlic and sliced Serrano chilies until softened. Add pork back in, then chilies and oregano. Add broth and water and bring to a simmer. Simmer slowly for 2-3 hours for a soup/stew consistency, or 4-6 hours for a thicker consistency (see below) perfect for a green chili burrito.

This is a great recipe, but I changed it to suit my personal taste

First, I just used pork tenderloin- mainly a convenience thing since Costco sells 7.5 lb. tenderloins that I use for other things. I tried it both ways- cubing it and shredding it- my favorite was shredded. I cut 2.5 lb tenderloin in half, and seared the sides after adding the cumin, salt and pepper.

Secondly, I removed the water from the recipe, and instead I used a 32 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes. I like a little tomato in my green chili- I just crushed up the whole tomatoes by hand. (I find that it is a little more flavorful than just using canned crushed tomatoes, and the extra effort is minimal.) The liquid in the tomatoes takes the place of the water.

Third, I like my chili pretty hot- so I added two Habanero peppers to the Serrano. A note about these things- first, use latex gloves. Habanero's are 100,000 or more Scoville units of spicy goodness- where Jalapenos and Serranos range around 2,000-10,000. I find using latex gloves is a good idea throughout this recipe as I don't like my hands smelling like garlic and onion for three days, and my hands even start burning some after the mild pepper prep work. (this is a pet peeve of mine from college- I ALWAYS had to cut up a 5 gallon bucket of onions on Fridays one semester- I'd smell like onions the whole weekend) DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES OR SKIN while the oil of these peppers are on your hands! Counter to what I expected, the chili actually gets milder after it's in the fridge for a day no matter which peppers I used. Oh, I also found that the cumin will stick to the pork much better if you are using latex gloves to apply it.

I put the crock pot on low for 7 hours- this last time I put a oven thermometer in the pork just to see how warm it gets- levels out at about 190 degrees. I pulled out the pork, shredded it with forks and then put it back in for another hour. The recipe makes about 3.5 quarts, and the chili will stay good in the fridge well over a week. (You can always freeze it if you don't eat as much as I do.)

I tried adding fresh cilantro once, but didn't notice much difference- this might be a good thing to add after it's done cooking. I'll probably try that next time.

My lunch yesterday:
Cheese Quesadilla Chili con Carne














Bonus pic:
Our dog wistfully hoping for a handout.













I would love it if anyone has a chili recipe for me to try- or suggestions for this one! I'm certain there will be a Green Chili part deux in the future.