Sponsored by Missouri Pork
Here in the Southwest, Mexican food NEVER goes out of style. In fact, if Mexican food goes out of style somewhere….it’s probably a place I don’t want to visit! I always joke that we try to stick to a pretty strict Mexican Food diet in our house, and our favorite dish is always Green Chile Pork!
As winter and the holidays approach, I start to find myself turning everything into comfort food. My Irish heritage instantly starts chopping up potatoes and transforming everything into a stew!
Stews are a great way to use up veggies, herbs and stocks that may be opened and approaching their expiration date. The leftovers from a solid stew also make a GREAT base for hash the next morning. With a few extra potatoes and some over-easy eggs, you've got a winning Green Chile Pork Hash! Sign me up for that!
Let’s talk about green chiles for a minute. Are you a spicy heat person, or a mild cool person? We’re somewhere in between in our house, so the Anaheim or Poblano Chile is perfect for this dish. If you’re looking for some more heat, you can use Hatch chiles instead of Poblanos, or you can throw in a couple of jalapeños or Serrano chiles into the mix. Removing the membranes and seeds from the inside of any chile pepper will make it more mild, so it just depends on your preference level.
I started with 4-5 Poblanos and about a dozen of my favorite little green gems, tomatillos! My son says these are a cross between a tomato and a green apple. They’re soft and seedy inside like a tomato, but they’re crisp and tart on the outside, like an apple. Tomatillos are the base for just about any green salsa in Southwest cooking, so don’t be afraid to load up on these at the grocery store.
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I roasted the Poblanos and tomatillos in the oven with some onions and garlic, then mixed it all in the blender with some cumin, lime, cilantro, salt and pepper. It was difficult to continue here with the rest of the dish, because at this point, I had a perfect salsa verde. I was so tempted to just grab some tortilla chips and start eating away, but I was determined to put dinner on the table!
Next, I seared the pork. This is the most important part of the recipe for me. I love that crispy, browned edge when I bite into a piece of soft, juicy pork. Once that was done, I deglazed the bottom of the pan to get all the flavor into the stew, and stirred in the rest of the ingredients. I let this stew simmer in a dutch oven for a few hours, but if you’ve got an electric pressure cooker and just 35 minutes, that works just as well!
For serving this stupendous stew, there are SO many options! I love avocado and sour cream, but I opted for some more authentic sides and garnishes today. I chopped up some red onion and cilantro, cooked up some rice, and sprinkled in some queso fresco crumbles. Hubby came home hungry and this stew was gone before I could even blink! Dinner was served (and so was a delicious breakfast the next morning)!
Green Chile Pork Stew
Green Chile Sauce Ingredients:
10-12 medium tomatillos (about 1.5 lbs.), husks removed
4 large Anaheim chiles
3 cloves garlic
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt/pepper
Stew Ingredients:
3 lbs pork shoulder, cubed
2 tbsp. Olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 green pepper
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 red potatoes, diced
48 oz. chicken broth
1 cup frozen yellow corn
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
Salt/pepper
Garnish Ingredients:
Cilantro lime rice
Queso Fresco crumbles
Chopped Red onion
Chopped Cilantro
Lime quarters
For the Green Chile Sauce:
Preheat the oven to broil. Slice the chiles in half and remove the membranes and seeds. Place them face down on a baking sheet. Slice the tomatillos in half and place them on the sheet with the garlic and onion. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and broil for 8-10 minutes until veggies are browned and soft. Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool.
After the chiles are cooled, peel off the skins and discard. Place the skinned chiles, tomatillos, onion and garlic into a blender or food processor. Add the cumin, chopped cilantro and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix on high speed for about 1 minute, until the sauce is blended and smooth. Set aside until ready to use.
For the Stew:
Heat the olive oil on high heat in a large dutch oven. Sear the pork until browned on all sides. Add the green chile sauce, garlic, green pepper, onion, potato and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover the dutch oven and allow the stew to simmer for 2-3 hours until the pork is soft and falls apart with a fork.
Stir in the frozen corn and black beans and allow the mixture to simmer for another 15 minutes.
To Serve:
Spoon the stew in to a serving bowl around a cup of rice. Garnish with Queso Fresco crumbles, chopped red onion, cilantro and lime quarters.
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