One Pot Chile Verde

Simmered to tender perfection, today’s one pot pork chile verde with potatoes is a quintessential Sunday Supper option that will surely satisfy anyone who is craving traditional chile verde that can be impossible to find.

I’m embarrassed to say that I used to be totally intimidated by anything called “chile verde.” I figured something as amazingly flavorful and potentially versatile had to be super time-consuming and way out of my cooking wheelhouse. 

Sooooo not true, and this recipe is proof. I happened to do a traditional chile verde made with pork in today’s offering, but I’m here to tell you that the star of this recipe is the sauce. File the recipe for “how to make chile verde sauce” somewhere in your brain so it can easily be recalled. I’ve since made this dish with dark meat turkey and leftover chicken.  I’ve also used a small amount of this sauce in my white sauce mixture for the deconstructed chicken enchilada casserole to add a bit of bite to the flavors. 

This recipe calls for two pounds of boneless pork shoulder, cut in cubes. You can certainly take advantage to whatever cut of pork you have on hand or may find on special in the grocery store. Lately pork loins have been super reasonably priced, so that’s what I used. You don’t have to cook pork loin as long as you do shoulder as far as the tenderness factor goes. Honestly the best way to check for doneness is via a meat thermometer, and you are looking for a minimum temperature of 145 degrees for pork to be done. At that point a tender loin is ready to serve, a cut that’s a little more meaty like a shoulder will have a higher internal temperature because you will have to cook it longer for desired tenderness. 

Enough about the cut of meat. I want to talk you through making the verde sauce. It can’t be any easier. All you need is a cookie sheet or two, your oven, and a sharp knife. 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, or if you are planning to stay very close to your kitchen, feel free to use the broiler. Place top rack in the middle of the oven, and the second rack just below, with enough space to slide the cookie sheet with tomatillos in. 

Put the cookie sheet that has the garlic on an upper rack. Set timer for 10-15 minutes. At that time you will remove the garlic from the cookie sheet and proceed to let the onions and chiles cook. You want the skins of the chiles to blister, so it’s easy to remove. Leave the tomatillos alone. 

Remove the slightly charred dry skin from the garlic and place in your food processor or blender. Periodically check on your chiles and flip over as a side blisters. Don’t worry about the tomatillos, they are doing just fine where they are. 

When the chiles have blistered, remove from the cookie sheet and place in a covered bowl or covered saucepan to steam for a little while. Remove charred skin from the outsides of the onions. Place the now soft tomatillos into the food processor. Remove the thin membrane from the chiles, as well as the seeds and stems. Toss them into the food processor or blender. Now puree, adding salt and pepper to taste. Add a minimum of 1-1/2 teaspoons of cumin and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Next add a generous cup of fresh cilantro. Puree until everything is happily combined into a fairly smooth puree. 

Honestly, that’s it. As you get more confident in your abilities, you can choose to broil the vegetables versus bake; you can also choose to grill the tomatillos, chiles and onions on an open grill. Your most difficult decision will be which varieties of chiles to use. If your family prefers mild chile flavors, consider using Anaheim chiles. We used poblanos, two Serranos and one fiery Habanero. It was a little spicy for our taste testers with elementary school-aged children, but the adults decided it was spot-on. 

And if you’re wondering, yes, this dish makes great leftovers for the next day. Wrapped up on a fluffy flour tortilla, you’ve got a meal on the go. 

I hope you are all staying safe out there in the wild. Next week, I’ll be sharing a dessert recipe that’s perfect for Thanksgiving.

pork Chile verde, Mexican inspired, Sunday supper

Main Dish

Mexican

Yield: 6

Author: Rae Goldman

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One Pot Pork Chile Verde with Potatoes

Served over rice, over corn tortillas or turned into a burrito, there is no wrong way to eat this delectable one-pot chile verde with potatoes.

Prep time: 10 MCook time: 3 H & 50 MTotal time: 3 H & 60 M

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cubed, or 2 pounds pork loin, cubed
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry white wine, for deglazing
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 3 large potatoes, russet or red, cut into bite-size cubes
• Crumbled queso fresco, chopped cilantro leaves, lime edge and warm corn tortillas fo serving
• Tomatillo Chile sauce
• 1-1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks and stems removed
• 2 yellow onions
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves
• Six fresh Poblano chiles
• Two Serrano chiles
• One Habanero Chile (Alternatively, you could substitute six fresh Anaheim chiles and two jalapeño chiles, whatever works for your family and your taste buds)
• 1-1/2 generous teaspoon cumin
• 1 generous teaspoon oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste
• One cup cilantro, plus extra for garnish

Instructions:

For Chile Sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack at center, make sure the second cookie sheet will fit
2. Remove husks from the tomatillos, remove stems and wash. Cut the onions into 8 equal wedges each. Wash the chiles. Place the garlic cloves in their own corner of the cookie sheet. Place the onions, chiles and garlic on one cookie sheet and the tomatillos on a second one. Place cooke sheet with onions, garlic and chiles on the middle rack and the tomatillos below.
3. After ten minutes, remove the garlic cloves and place in bowl. Check chiles for skin blistering and turn over. Roast remaining vegetables for 15 additional minutes.
4. Place blistered chiles in a covered bowl or saucepan for them to steam and cool and become easier to handle. Remove dry out skins from onions and place in food processor or blender, remove dry chaff from garlic cloves and place in food processor, place tomatillos in food processor. Remove blistered membrane from chiles, remove seeds and stems. Place chiles in food processor. Season with salt and pepper, add the cumin and oregano. Puree until smooth. Add 1 generous cup of cilantro and puree.

Prepare The Pork

1. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season the cubed pork with plenty of salt and freshly-ground pepper. Brown the pork cubes in batches, brewing meat on all sides, about 8-9 minutes per batch of meat. Let pork rest on a clean platter while you finish browning the entire two pounds.
2. Pour off excess fat, and deglaze the Dutch oven with the wine. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until wine volume is reduced by one-half, a couple of minutes.
3. Return pork to Dutch oven with its juices, add the tomatillo-chile puree and the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer then cover and reduce heat to medium-low, cooking until pork is tender, about 3 hours (shorten cooking time if using pork loin).
4. Add potatoes, re-cover and cook for 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Serve in bowls, sprinkle quest fresco and chopped cilantro on top. Use lime wedges as a flavor enhancer, nd serve with warm corn tortillas.

Serving is two dumplings per person

https://www.insolenceandwine.com/blog/one-pot-chile-verde

Rae Goldman

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