Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Make Chile Verde.

I don’t know why but recently I had quite a hankering for chile verde.  I guess because it’s DELICIOUS.  And I remembered that Cinco de Mayo was coming up–the holiday, that not unlike St. Patrick’s Day, is celebrated mainly in the U.S., not in it’s country of origin.  Us crazy Americans.

Not that you NEED a reason to make chile verde—it’s just one of those dishes that is totally worth the effort.  I’m not gonna lie, there are quite a few steps.  And I’d advise you not to take any shortcuts.  Because I will know.  Ha ha, no I won’t but you might end up with an inferior end product.  And I simply cannot condone that.

Yes, roast your own peppers.  As far as I know, they are not available commercially, only the sweet red ones are and you don’t want those.  Verde means green, after all.  You can do it under the broiler if you want.

I have a mixture of green bells, jalapenos and Anaheim chiles.  I wanted a little heat but not mind-blowing.  It was perfect.  You can mix it up if you want it hotter.

At the same time I was doing the peppers on the stove, I roasted the tomatillos and the garlic in the oven under the broiler.  I was multi-tasking!

You’ll have to let the peppers steam in a bag or bowl then peel the skins off.  I don’t like to put them under running water but do whatever floats your boat.

Buzz all the roasted stuff up with a goodly handful of cilantro, stems and all.

Like any other braise, you’re going to have to brown the pork cubes in small batches.  YOU HAVE TO DO SMALL BATCHES, BIATCHES.  The reason is that the cubes won’t get seared and nice and brown.  They’ll all lose their juices and kind of boil.  Which then makes the meat tough.  Look, I just can’t recommend you do that.

After, you add in the onions and let them sweat it out.

Then goes in you beautiful, gorgeous, delicious green sauce that you just spent half your life making.

The whole thing goes in the oven at 225* and is left there indefinitely.

When the pork has about an hour to go, add a potato or two, cut up in bite-size cubes.  Let continue to cook until the potatoes are cooked through and the meat is fork-tender.

If the sauce is not thick enough, you can boil it and let it reduce, you could also add some corn meal if you like.  Alternately, if it is too thick, just add some water.

Dig in and enjoy.  Crack open a Dos Equis and suddenly you’re the Most Interesting Man in the World.

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Chile Verde

Recipe adapted from Kenji Lopez-Alt of Serious Eats

3-4 lbs. pork shoulder, cut into 1″ cubes
2 green bell peppers
2 Anaheim chiles
2 jalapeno chiles
2 lbs tomatillos, husks removed
6 whole garlic cloves
2 cups cilantro, stems can be left on
1 large onion, finely diced
2 medium potatoes, diced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 quart chicken stock
salt, pepper

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Preheat oven to 225* and place rack in the middle of the oven.

In a bowl or on a baking sheet, toss the pork with a couple Tbsp of kosher salt and let sit and come to room temperature.

Roast peppers and tomatillos. You can do this over your gas burner or under the broiler. I would recommend the broiler for the tomatillos and the garlic. After you’ve roasted the peppers, place them in a bowl with a plate on top or in a closed paper bag. After the peppers have steamed for about 5 minutes, you should be able to slip the burned skins off of the peppers. Discard the burned skins and seeds.

Turn the roasted peppers, tomatillos and garlic into a food processor, along with any juices. Add cilantro and pulse until roughly pureed. Season with salt and pepper.

In a Dutch oven, heat 3 Tbsp vegetable oil over high heat and brown the pork in batches. At the end of the last batch, add all pork back to pan along with the onion. Stir frequently, getting the browned stuff from the bottom of the pan. After about 4-5 minutes, add the cumin and stir until fragrant, one minute or so.

Add chicken stock and the green chile sauce from the food processor and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover (leaving it cracked slightly) and put in the oven. Cook about 2 hours.

Add potato and stir through. Put lid back on slightly ajar. Continue to cook for another hour or so, until the potato is cooked and the meat is fork tender.

Skim fat and boil if not thickened to your liking. You can add water or broth if it is too thick.
Season again with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with tortillas, limes, sour cream, more cilantro and cheese if you like.

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Tagged as: Chile, Entree, Mexican food, pork, Soup