Pork Chile Verde

I started making chile verde about 7-8 years ago when I had a chance to order this in a restaurant. Mexican stew with tender pork, spicy peppers, and tomatillos blew me away and at the time, I could not believe I never had this deliciousness before. Afterwards, I started making chile verde based on a recipe from Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger ( chefs and owners of Border Grill restaurants) that I found on foodnetwork.com. I made this dish many times with some adjustments here and there to the recipe and every time I make it I feel I made my best chile verde ever.

Tableware

I’m using my recurring favorite, Old Britain Castles by Johnson Brothers to savor my chile verde. I featured Old Britain Castles pieces before in my other posts and I really love traditional British china patterns. I know traditional china is decreasing in popularity somewhat because people find traditional patterns old fashioned, but when you mix and match traditional pieces with simple, everyday pieces like my serving plate from Cost Plus World Market, your table can have a fresh modern look and feel.

Chile Verde

To make your chile verde, you need to start with essentials and that includes tomatillos, green bell peppers, poblano peppers, jalapenos, and cilantros. I like to roast all my peppers and tomatillos on a grill until their skin is charred. Tiny bits of charred skin that end up in your sauce from tomatillos and peppers adds wonderful smoky flavor to your stew.

If you want to increase the heat level or add other spicy peppers, you can add serrano chilies, or my personal favorite, hatch chilies. You just have to remember that fresh hatch chilies are only in season from late August to late September. Because I love hatch chilies and they are a must have ingredient when I make chile verde or salsa verde, I usually stock up when they are in season. I freeze all my roasted hatch chilies and use them throughout the year.

In the original recipe from Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, you don’t puree tomatillos or peppers in a blender. You get to simmer chopped roasted tomatillos and sautéed peppers in a pot with pork and other ingredients. I made this chile verde many times following the recipe exactly and it is delicious, but I prefer eating stew with thicker sauce so now I throw all the roasted peppers and tomatillos in a blender with minced garlic. In the event you find the pureed sauce too thick, you can always add some water while its simmering.

If you want to save some time and energy, you can also make this a day before which is what I do sometimes. The next day all you have to do is pour the prepared chile verde in your Dutch oven over your seared pork pieces.

Pork Shoulder

Aside from the sauce, other savory flavors will come from the pork you sear so choose good quality pork shoulder and brown your pork pieces on each side. All of the browned bits of pork and fat that collects on the bottom of your Dutch oven is going to be a flavor enhancer so when your pork pieces are done browning, add white wine and scrape that goodness off with a wooden spoon or spatula.

As usual with dishes like this, I’m using my Staub Dutch oven. Again, as I have said before, using quality Dutch oven like Staub will save you lot of time to tenderize your pork.

Onions and Herbs

When you got your pork nicely browned then it’s time to add onions and herbs. In my opinion, Mexican dish like this is not complete without onions, fresh cilantros and dried herbs like cumin, oregano, and ground coriander. Before I add the chile verde to my Dutch oven, I soften onions and fresh cilantros over the pork, then add dried herbs combining everything together. Then it’s time to pour the sauce into the pan and have your pork soak up the tangy, spicy, smoky green sauce.

Let the beautiful green stew simmer for about 1 hour to 1.5 hours so it can develop rich, concentrated flavors. I like to eat my bowl of chile verde with some lime juice and fresh cilantros sprinkled on top along with warm corn tortillas.

Print Recipe

Pork Chile Verde

Recipe adapted from M.S. Milliken & S. Feniger via Foodnetwork.com

Prep Time40 minutes mins

Cook Time2 hours hrs

Ingredients

For the Chile Verde

• 2 medium green bell peppers
• 2 poblano chiles
• 3 jalapenos
• 7-8 tomatillos, husks removed
• 1 hatch chili
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• ¼ cup olive oil

For the Pork

• 2 lbs pork shoulder (butt roast)
• 1½ tbsp sea salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 7-8 garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 cups water
• 2 small yellow or white onions finely chopped
• 2 cups cilantro leaves
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin or whole cumin seeds
• 2 tsp dried oregano

Garnish

• 1-2 tbsp cilantro leaves (optional)

Instructions

• On a barbecue grill, place aluminum foil and heat grill to 300°. Once the grill reaches the desired temperature, place bell peppers, poblano and hatch chilis, jalapenos and tomatillos on the aluminum foil and drizzle olive oil on the vegetables. Turn over the peppers and tomatillos every 5-6 minutes. When peppers and tomatillos become soft and skin is charred, take it off the grill and set it aside to cool.
• Cut pork shoulder in approximately 2- 3 inches, trim excess fat. Season with salt, lightly rubbing salt into the meat.
• Place Dutch oven over medium high heat and add olive oil. Once olive oil starts sizzling, place pork pieces flat in the pot and place crushed garlic on top of the pork to prevent garlic from burning. Sear each side of pork until brown. Add white wine and scrape the bottom of Dutch oven with wooden spoon or wooden spatula.
• Turn heat to low and add chopped onions and cilantro leaves on top of seared pork. Do not disturb, and place cover for 2-3 minutes or until onions are soft. Add coriander, oregano, cumin and combine with onions and pork. Let the pork mixture simmer.
• While pork is simmering, remove stems, skin and seeds from peppers. Rough chop vegetables and add to blender along with minced garlic. Puree until smooth.
• Pour pureed sauce into Dutch oven, add water and let it simmer for an hour to hour and a half. Stir occasionally and add additional water if the sauce becomes too thick. Serve with fresh lime, fresh cilantro leaves and warm corn tortillas.