Chile Verde/Green Chile Stew

I KNOW!! It surprised me too!

I have made the meat part separately
a fair amount of the time. I never really
make it the same way twice. Always seat of the pants.
I will say that the one thing I always do is roast the tomatillos in husk either over flame or in a roasting pan in the oven partially filled with water or beer
so they roast and steam together.
Then hold by stem and squish. :slight_smile:
The citrus element always adds a depth that I love. When I lived in Scottsdale, there were trees in lots of neighborhoods. Folks would just put buckets of citrus out on the curb. Don’t know if it is still so.
I now wonder how preserved lemon mentioned in the revelations thread might be a good addition.

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Quoting myself but whatever.

Got my Green Pork Chili on to simmer.

Roughly:

3lbs Pork Butt Cut Into 1" to 1 1/2" Cubes and browned, (I rendered some of the fat cap I trimmed to brown the cubes)
1 and 1/2 onions coarsely chopped
1 Poblano stemmed, seeded and diced (raw)
1 Jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and diced raw
2 Thai Chiles stemmed, seeded and diced raw
1 small can Chopped Green Chiles
1 Can Mexican Style Corn
3 Small Leeks, White Part Only
4 Green Onions Chopped, (Green part only)
1/2 lb Thawed Hatch Peppers, (Roasted and chopped)
Chicken Stock
1 Tbsp Mexican Oregano
1 Tbsp Dried Cilantro

Browned the pork and removed from pot
Sauteed the onions and the raw chopped peppers in the reserved fat
Sprinkled in a couple of Tbsps flour and stirred for about two minutes
Stirred in chicken stock
Added canned and thawed peppers
Everything else.
Bring to simmer and cook on low until meat is tender, about two to two and a half hours.

Serve with warm tortillas.

MMmmmmmmm.

(Too bad it’s like 80’ here today.)

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Arrgh! I forgot to include the last step of adding cilantro (which was on a new page). Here’s the full recipe:

Saute a chopped onion and 2 chopped cloves of garlic 3 minutes. Add 2 chopped jalapenos and 2 or 3 chopped green peppers; saute another 3 minutes.

Add one pound cooked shredded chicken, 2 cups chicken broth, 5 chopped tomatillos, 1 or 2 drained cans of canellini (white kidney) beans, l tsp oregano, 2 tsp ground red chilis (*), 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the pot. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer about 2 hours.

Mix in 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

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I can relate. Grew up in the LA region and the cooking was influenced by all corners of Mexico and Latin America but the New Mexico flavors are uniquely delicious. And now you’re living in god’s country. Lived in Eugene for five years. Wonderful!
Thanks for the tip about a spritz of citrus & I think you’re probably right, preserved lemons would probably work.
As often as I ate a bowl of GCS I never saw a tomato swimming around in there.
I guess this is a question for Jaymes. Why no tomatillos, but yes to tomatoes? Just curious. Looking at several recipes, looks to me like a typical anything goes strain of stew cooking regarding veg (e.g. Using what’s at hand, seasonally.)

I would think that was because the tomatoes would turn the green chili either red or brown.

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Yes. I’m saying I never had a bowl of GCS that was either red or brown. ??

Sorry I don’t think I was clear. Looking at the recipes linked above, some use or mention tomatoes. And I can’t recall being served a bowl with tomatoes as an ingredient. But these are authoritative recipes for sure. So was just wondering about Jaymes’s take.

Ha. I usually say, “If you’re feeding little kids or yankees…” but decided to be nice.

It’s all just a matter of preference. I’ve lived in Arizona, New Mexico, Southern California, Texas - all along the US/Mexico border - and have traveled fairly extensively throughout Mexico and it’s been my experience that, although some of it is tradition, mostly it’s just what you like. I think you’re absolutely correct that Green Chile Stew is a “typical anything goes strain of stew cooking” with green chiles always added to the stew pot. I’d say tomatoes are common, but not “required.” And, as I said above, I’ve noted that tomatillos are not the rule in New Mexico, but you do usually see them elsewhere.

When I was cooking at home while raising my family we had so many versions of Green Chile Stew that my kids got to where they didn’t want to eat regular ol’ American beef stew. Said it didn’t have enough flavor. So I’d throw in a few cans of green chiles and everybody was happy.

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Ok, good chili weather up here in Pittsburgh. Made a batch w/quarter cup Frontera fire roasted tomatillo. Hmmm. Maybe fresh tomatillos (flamed) would have been less aggressive. Maybe I overdid it. But the acidic hit kind of swamped the special flavor of the green chilis. Had to rebalance w/some very brown bone jelly & more garlic/thyme.
Have to admit I used beef brisket. It’s what I had. :wink:
Next plan to make same w/o tomatillos & try preserved lemon garnish. But my lemons are cooking & won’t be ready till mid-April. Maybe BBQ Boy has already given it a shot.
And of course corn bread.

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I have only just started playing with Chili Verde. I made the Chicken version of this -

It was delicious and will make again, I definitely want to try the pork version. Love me some piggy. I shredded some softened corn tortillas and mixed that in after it came out of the pressure cooker. Could use more heat and more acid, squeeze of lime would probably work great.

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Jarred and canned salsas in general tend I think to be more acidic, which isn’t necessarily a problem when you cook them. Tomatillos themselves even fresh are pretty acidic. I can see where that would be a problem if combining them with a more subtle green chile. I feel like every batch of green chile I make ( and we make it about twice a month) is different because the chiles whether fresh or jarred/canned blend differently every time wih the other ingredients.

We always make this with chunks of pork shoulder or pork neck bones. I’ve done it with chicken and beef and it was fine but there’s something about green chile and pork together that can’t be improved upon. One of our favorite variants is to add potatoes or white hominy. Then it’s a meal in itself.

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Made the pork version over the weekend. It was just as delicious as the chicken, only porkier. :slight_smile:
The recipe calls for 4 lbs of pork butt and, for me, that was too much. The ratio of sauce to pork was out of balance. Next time I’ll use 3.

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I went back and looked at the chicken recipe and it calls for 3 lbs of bone-in thighs. That has to work out to around 2 1/2 lbs of meat. Will try 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lb pork next time.

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@chienrouge
Here’s my other Chile contribution. :cowboy_hat_face:

I love it @bbqboy. I keep this one a lot simpler than my regular garbage pail kinda ground beef chili. My best success with chile verde has come with chicken (i take the skin off the thighs but the crispy skin cooked separately makes for a nice garnish at the end). Oh, and a blender full of jalapenos, chicken broth and garlic! Roasted Hatch chiles if you gottem. maybe a glug of silver tequila. Can take or leave the tomatillos personally, i know that’s probably sacrelig. I like cilantro to garnish. maybe some white beans if I have them.

Are you ready for some football?

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Among my faves.

Mine is like this, only I also include a roasted tomatillo to it.

I’ve only made it with pork. Maybe it’s time to expand to chicken.

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