No. 10Recipe Card Posted on Leave a comment

Green Chile with Pork

Whether I am visiting for a week, a day, or a weekday I always try to come back with the recipes from wherever I travel. Travel may mean visiting an area in California, or in this case it is was the beautiful land of New Mexico, either way, there is always a new and wonderful dish that I savor and must have the recipe, it was Green Chile with Pork.

Green chiles are roasted and sold along the highways of almost all the Four Corners states, and have popped up on the local radar as well, roasted and sold and local supermarkets. Although I was not in time to smell the smoke, I snatched a pound of the roasted hot (truth in packaging) Hatch green chiles at Bristol Farms, after eyeing the charred beauties being sold there in 1-pound packages. Perfect for my recipe.

Green chile can be made a hundred-plus different ways, but this rendition is an honest, simple pork green chile; tender pork, stewed with green chiles, garlic and few diced tomatoes – a Bijouxs because it always delivers. No special talents required – just some time. The key to creating the melt-in-your-mouth pork in the chile is that the pork is poached, not seared before making the chile and that it is poached in one large piece, and cubed after cooking.

A brief word on the Hatch chile. I learned that Hatch is a town and area of New Mexico, and many that varieties of peppers are grown there. Hatch is also a brand of canned chiles from chiles grown in that area. (Their chile festival is kind of a big deal) Hatch is not a variety of chile. The roasted chiles I purchased are fresh chiles from Hatch New Mexico, which are in season for a very short time. (They do freeze well, so think about that if you see them fresh) Can you make this chile using canned chiles? Yes, with some modifications.

 

Back to the recipe, if you use the fresh roasted, remove the stems, and seeds, and do a very rough chop. I like my chile to be on the thin side, containing bites of clearly identifiable ingredients, the pork, chiles, and tomato. Allow time for the chile to gently simmer in a heavy, large covered pot; relax and enjoy the process.

I like to serve this chile with fresh corn tortillas charred on the gas burners of my stove and top with a ubiquitous cilantro-onion chop. The chile is even better the next day, so this is a make-ahead dish, which actually makes it great for entertaining.

Green Chile with Pork from New Mexico – I came back with the recipe.

As always, enjoy. B

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