As I said before, we spent last weekend in the Mountains with some wonderful friends. The weather was PERFECT…blue skies, lots of sun, but just chilly enough to really feel like you are in the mountains. It was the perfect weekend for soups, stews and baked good…so I took full advantage of that! On Saturday morning, we woke up and had a lovely breakfast, relaxed by the fire, and then decided to go for a hike up a nearby mountain…it was beautiful, refreshing and a super fun way to get a little exercise! We hiked for a few hours and came home HUN-GRY…which was great, because earlier that morning, we threw our lunch together and put it in a dutch oven to cook all day!
That is the great thing about chili…it is LOW maintenance! This particular green variety requires a little more TLC on the front end…but, that’s ok, because it is not your ordinary (full of starchy beans) chili…it is loaded with lovely lean protein and chok full of vitamins, minerals and most importantly, flavor!
Chili Verde
5 lb pork loin, fat trimmed, cut into 1 inch chuncks
2 Cups chicken stock
20 tomatillos, husked, washed and halved
4 poblano peppers, halved, seeds removed
4 large onions, chopped
1/2 Cup garlic, crushed
1 jalapeno, diced, seeds removed
1 serrano chili, diced, seeds removed
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons sea salt
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Line 2 cookie sheets with aluminum foil (for easy clean up). Place tomatillos, sprinkled with sea salt, on one sheet and poblano peppers, skin side up on another sheet. Roast for about 30 minutes…until soft.
While the peppers and tomatillos roast, remove the fat from the pork loin and but it into one inch cubes. In a large Dutch oven, sprayed with cooking spray, over medium-high heat, brown the pork, in batches, until golden brown. Add 2 Cups chicken stock.
In a separate large skillet, over medium heat, sautee onions and garlic.
Place the tomatillos and roasted pobalnos in a blender and puree. Add the sauteed onions and garlic and the tomatillo puree to the pork.
Stir in peppers (to make it as spicy as you like it), cumin, coriander, garlic powder, oregano and salt. Cover, and simmer over low heat for at least two hours…you can let it simmer all day if you would like your pork to fall apart! When you are ready to serve, in a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup chicken stock to form a paste. Add to the chili and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
This makes about 10 servings and it freezes really well!
