Chili Verde

This is a wonderful mexican stew, and no two recipes are the same. My mom taught me hers 25 years ago, and after all the years mine bears no resemblance.

Prep time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 2 to 2 1/2 hours

2 pounds pork loin or chops, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 large sweet onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 chipotle pepper (dried jalapeno), finely chopped

2-3 dried ancho chilies

6-8 fire roasted sweet anaheim chilies, or some combination of anaheims and poblanos, peeled, seeded, and diced

6 quarts good quality chicken broth

2 pounds tomatillos, husked, cored, and quartered

2 Tbs each ground cumin and oregano

Salt and ground pepper

Fire up the charcoal barbeque (or broiler) and roast the anaheim peppers over high heat until charred. Remove from heat and put in a brown paper bag to steam for about 20 minutes. Remove and peel skins. Remove stem and seeds (do not rinse the peppers in water). Chop.

Chop the onions, garlic, and pork. Chop the chipotle, and cut a slit in each of the anchos. Remove the husk from the tomatillos, rinse, remove the core, and quarter.

Saute the onions and chipotle in 2 Tbs olive oil. Add the garlic, ancho chilies and cook for two minutes. Add the pork, turn the heat up to medium high, and brown. Add the stock, roasted chilies, and tomatillos. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, uncovered, about an hour. Add the spices, and continue to simmer another hour or so. The chili is done when the tomatillos have completely disintegrated and the sauce has reduced and begins to thicken a bit.

Serve in a bowl with a side of warm corn or flour tortillas, sour cream, hot sauce, and cheddar or spanish manchego cheese. You can get more mileage out of the batch by serving it over some steamed jasmine rice. Other options include a chili verde burrito with black beans, rice, avocado, lettuce, and tomato, or a chili verde omelette (great midnight snack).