Recipe for Chile Verde with pork (Chile Verde de cerdo)
The Chile Verde is a true authentic mexican recipe featuring meat such as pork in this case, stewed with green vegetables, mostly green tomatoes and green chilies. In this case I am presenting you with recipe with pork but, naturally pork can be substituted with beef, as both meats are used with this dish in Mexico.
Mexican recipe for the Chile Verde with pork
4 lbs. pork loin or leg meat (I add to this baby back pork ribs, a suggestion)
1 teaspoonful of salt
1 teaspoonful of black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons of flour
6 tablepoons vegetable oil, split into two
2 big onions, chopped
8 crushed cloves of garlic
2 lb. of tomatillos without their husks, split in quarters
1 tablespoon of cumin powder
1 tablespoon of dry oregano
1 cinnamon stick
12 ounces of mexican beer
2 cups liquid chicken broth
6 poblanos chiles split in two, seeds discarded, cut in strips 1/2 inch wide
3 serrano chiles, again seeds discarded finely chopped
2 green bell peppers, without seeds cut in 1 inch squares
3/4 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons orange zest
Preparation:
1) Season the pork meat with salt and pepper; sprinkle flour evenly over your meat. Heat up 4 tablespoons of oil in a pot (Dutch oven type) and sear the cubes of pork in batches, to give the meat color and keep the juices trapped inside; transferring the meat that is already roasted to a plate.
2) Heat up the remaining two tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Add the onion, fry it slightly for approximately 3 minutes until it becomes translucent, press in the garlic using a garlic press and fry slightly for one more minute. Put in the tomatillos, the cumin, the oregano, the cinnamon and the pork meat. Mix in the beer and the broth.
3) When it starts to boil, reduce heat setting and simmer over low fire, covered for 2 hours, mixing once in a while to avoid sticking. After the two hours, mix in the chilis; resume simmering over low fire, covered for 30 to 45 more minutes until the chilis are cooked. Take out and discard the cinnamon stick. Mix in the cilantro and the orange zest, mixing once in a while. Personally I like my mexican stews to be on the thick side, not very liquid, so I used corn starch to help thickening the sauce.
And there you go, your chile verde is ready...
