Way more than anyone really needs to know about chile verde

It’s interesting to note that until the ‘50s there were NO Mexican restaurants.

Then all of a sudden there were lots of Mexican restaurants and they all served exactly the same things.

You didn’t even need a menu – they had taco plates (chicken or beef), enchiladas (chicken, beef or cheese), tostadas (chicken or beef), chile rellenos, and a Mexican Combo. Everything was covered in a red sauce and served on a plate that was hot enough to blister your skin. A Basket of homemade tortilla chips and a bowl of red salsa sat proudly on each Formica table. It seems like all the restaurants were decorated by the same person – battered dinette sets, linoleum floors, dusty plastic plants, last years Xmas lights and some out-of-date calendars featuring a scantily clad Aztec maiden about to be sacrificed on a stone altar. There was usually a flickering black and white TV showing a soccer game or Mexican soap opera and an old refrigerator with a sprung door or an iced cooler full of Carta Blanca. Oh, if the place had pretensions of class they might have had a bull fight poster and a couple of black velvet paintings or so. We’ve come a long way, baby!!

The first break in this rigid menu structure appeared in the mid ‘50s when chile verde (pork in green chile) and chile Colorado (beef in red chile) magically appeared on Mexican menus all over the country. Once the door had been kicked open, quesadillas, burritos, chimichangas and albondigas rushed on through - followed closely by red snapper Veracruzana, coconut mango shrimp, Caldo de mariscos, gourmet salsas, fajitas this, fajitas that and a bevy of yuppies writing authentic Mexican cookbooks and nouvelle Mexican cook books and Asian-Mexican fusion cookbooks. The linoleum and Formica was soon replaced by imported quarry tile and hand tooled leather booths – the fridge with the broken door has given way to a dark fern bar serving over priced strawberry margaritas and fifty dollar shots of limited edition blue agave tequila aged for 23 years in red oak barrels made from gun powder charred timbers salvaged from the Alamo (or some such nonsense). As far as I’m concerned this is all nothing but a giant ‘retroprovement’ (a word I made up to describe an improvement that makes things worse). Call me cynical – or maybe just old – but I think it sucks.

I‘m really starting to hate all things yuppie.

One thing they haven’t yet managed to screw up is the Green Chile with Pork. It became a favorite of mine the first time I tasted it and it remains so today. I have served it in every restaurant I’ve owned and eaten it all over the United States and Mexico. It doesn’t seem to have any special regional origins; it is served in every part of Mexico and is invariably really good. I first started eating this wonderful, hearty dish in southern California and it quickly became my dinner of choice when eating in a new Mexican restaurant. In each new place it was different – Sometimes thick, sometimes thin – occasionally hot enough to blister paint, often quite mild. Many versions had potatoes, some with a lot of cilantro, some heavy on black pepper. I’ve eaten it made with bell peppers, poblano peppers, jalapenos, serranos, even the occasional habanero. The one thing they had in common was that they all tasted great. I started to believe that all Mexicans were really good cooks and it wasn’t until many years later that I realized that this dish is almost impossible to screw up. So, if you are ever gonna cook something from one of these stupid newsletters this is the one to start with. Even if you are a complete novice in the kitchen you can make this just as good as any of those self-involved, self- proclaimed ‘celebrity chefs’ in the stupid hats.


Okay baby, get out in that kitchen and rattle them pots and pans!…………

Parts list

Pork…………………………… 2 pounds (cut in bite size chunks)
Any cut will do, from chops to boneless loin. I prefer the cheaper cuts. I usually use a shoulder, I think the loin is just too lean and a little pork fat is a wonderful thing.

Cilantro…………………………about a handful (chopped)

Onion………………………….. 2 medium (white or yellow)
The onion is important for the flavor but it doesn’t make any difference how you chop it. If you don’t want to see onion in the dish chop them fine. I like chunks of onion in mine so I chop them into pretty big pieces – it’s your call

Garlic………………………….. chopped (how much is up to you)

Tomatillos……………………. 10 or 12 (blended)
Actually, I’ve never counted or weighed the tomatillos. What I do for 2 pounds of pork is fill my blender jar to the top with tomatillos add a little water or chicken stock and puree the heck out of it. I don’t want chunks of tomatillo in mine but I do want that wonderful flavor and color.

Flour………………………… just a little bit

Chiles………………………… Hell, I don’t know (it’s one of those ‘different strokes for different folks’ sort of things) but if it’s your first time I’d start out with 2 green bell peppers and 2 poblano chiles…………………. Cut in half the long way with seeds, stems and membranes removed and cut into strips about the size of your little finger

Chicken stock……………….. a couple of small soup size cans the store bought works great, but if you have some rich delicious homemade- that’s even better

optional

Potatoes……………………… 2 medium potatoes (peeled and cut into Pieces about the same size as the pork) most all cooks in Mexico do not use potatoes, including me, but they wouldn’t dream of making it without potatoes in New Mexico where they call this dish ‘Caldillo’ and it is served in almost every restaurant in the state. There are no potatoes in the version I serve at the restaurant, but when I make it at home I do use them. I use bakers because they are mealier and tend to fall apart and thicken the broth, but you can use new potatoes or even those cute little little bitty whole red potatoes. If you decide to use potatoes you want to use black pepper as well. If you make it without potatoes--- skip the pepper.

Bay leaf………………………. I use 3 or 4 leaves but I use Mexican laurel which is not nearly as strong or aromatic as you get in the states…so go easy the first time or maybe leave it out completely

Jalapeño or Serrano chiles……………… 2 or 3 (chopped fine or grated) (taste the chile after it’s simmered for an hour or so and if you want it hotter – add the grated chiles

Okay, let’s cook this sucker up!

Before we start I’ll tell you that the Bell Peppers are not traditional and I do not use them but I included them because I was afraid of making it too hot for you. So if you want the real deal use four poblanos and skip the green bells.

Okay, brown the meat in a little lard or oil or pork or bacon fat in a pot of your choice. At the restaurant I cook this dish in a great big stockpot but that’s for a much larger recipe. At home I use a large cast iron skillet that’s been following me around for 30 years or so and is still my favorite cooking utensil. I also dredge the meat in flour at home (I think it helps to thicken the broth) but not at the restaurant - it really doesn’t make much difference. You don’t want to overly brown it - just ‘til it starts to show some color.

Toss in the bay leaf and garlic and dump in the blended tomatillos and the chicken stock (all Mexican cooks use water, but the chicken stock is the real secret to this dish. You can use water and it will still be real good) and bring it up to a boil.

As it starts to boil - turn it down to a slow simmer and add about half the chopped onion, the cilantro, half the poblano chiles and half the bell peppers. You are going to simmer it for at least an hour and a half. So the chiles onions and peppers will add a ton of flavor but they will lose color and cook down to almost nothing and I really like pieces of onion and pretty green peppers in mine, so that’s why we saved half to put in when it’s almost done. As it sits now the stew is too thin and soupy - so simmer it for an hour or so - with no lid to reduce the liquid by about half.

Go have a beer or mow the lawn or call your mom or something.

Just about the only way to screw this up is to boil away the liquid and burn it, so check it and give at a stir every 15 minutes or so. If it’s getting too thick simply add a little more liquid.

When it has simmered for an hour – add the rest of the onion and chile and bell peppers. If you are going to use potatoes now is the time to add them as well. Also most of the garlicky taste will have cooked down, so if you want it garlicky, add some more. Simmer it for another half hour and give it a taste. It will need salt and if you used potatoes it will need black pepper as well. Add it now. If you want it hotter add some chopped jalapenos or serranos and simmer it for another ten minutes. If you want the broth thicker- take a fork and mash some of the potatoes.

Bingo!

You just made some of the best green chile and pork ever. I think the perfect garnish for this is to sprinkle it with some toasted sesame seeds and chopped cilantro. Serve it with rice, beans and hot flour tortillas and you’ll be eating like a real Mexican.
Let me know how it turns out.

Spencer