Chile Verde-Favorite Mexican Recipes

[now I see]

This is one of my favorite Mexican recipes to make, really good in cold weather, it is like chili except no beans and it's green instead of red.  Chile Verde is also excellent as a burrito topped with cheese and extra sauce.

Crock Pot Chile Verde (New Mexico)

Ingredients

1-2 Onions coarsely chopped 

7 Or 8 tomatillos

8 – 16 oz Green chiles, canned and coarsely chopped or diced (or make your own)

2 lb Pork shoulder or loin cubed 

1 cup chicken broth

1 tsp Oregano 

4-6 cloves Garlic, minced 

1 tsp Sage 

1 tb Olive oil 

1-2 tsp Cumin ground

1 ts Red pepper flakes

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper 

1-2 large potatoes chopped - optional

1-3 Jalapeno pepper, diced – optional

1/2 c Beer – optional (reduce chicken stock by ½ cup) 

Sauté the onion and garlic in olive oil, throw into the Crockpot. Also add in the green chiles. Depending on your propensity for spicy food, you may add from one to three jalapenos, diced. Then, add the tomatillos into the pot. Peel off the husk and coarsely chop them first, or you can blend the tomatillos and green chiles in a blender or food processor if you like a smoother consistency. You could even roast the onions, garlic and tomatillos in the oven first, and for that matter, even roast your own fresh Anaheim chiles instead of the canned ones, if you want an extra layer of roasted flavor, roasting the cumin first in a dry pan on the stove also gives great flavor. 

Take about 2 pounds of pork cubed, and brown in the pan that you sautéed the onion, etc in, add to the pot, loosen the pan drippings with some chicken stock and add that, the potato, chicken stock and the beer to the Crockpot. Next, add the dried red chile flakes, sage, cumin, salt, black pepper, oregano and the sage.

This cooks in the Crockpot all day, or could be simmered on high in the crockpot for probably about 2 hours once the pot heats up to temperature, or on the stove in a conventional pot simmered on low for at least 2 hours. 

If stew is too soupy, thicken with a few tortillas torn into small pieces or with broken tortilla chips or with a little flour or masa combined with water, chicken stock, or butter, all are good thickeners, allow to cook for 10-15 minutes after adding.  

Traditionally, this is served in bowls, like chili, with hot tortillas, salsa, and cilantro. You can also have sour cream, grated cheese and lime wedges as condiments. Of course, you can thicken the sauce with flour and wrap the Chile Verde up in flour tortillas, with maybe some rice or beans, pour more chile verde sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese, then melt in the microwave or broiler for a few minutes-making killer burritos, this is my family’s favorite way to eat it.  There are many regional variations to this recipe, some don't even add the chiles they just use tomatillos, also this is good using chicken or turkey instead of pork.  

Anyone else have their own favorite mexican recipes?

Enjoy!

Edited March 21, 2009 by now I see

[RumRunner]

Thanks for posting that recipe!

The only difference between your recipe and mine is that all are spicy eaters at my place so I usually use about a whole TBS of red pepper and I use habanero instead of jalapeno chiles and I use about 6 of them. Nothing wrong at'all with a good jalapeno we just like the taste of habaneros more. Oh - I add some fresh cilantro when I can and a dozen or so cloves of garlic - not chopped and sauteed. They will retain their shape and man it spreads like butter - so if we are serving it in bowls I also make French bread - strain out the garlics, then the usual - spread butter and copious garlic on the bread - top with cheese of choice if desired - broil near element for about 4 minutes.

You can eat chile verde on all kinds of things! In a bowl - as you described in a burrito - served over roasted cheese stuffed Anaheim chiles, over scrambled eggs, over rice - that stuff pretty much goes with anything but chocolate.

edited for spelling

Edited March 21, 2009 by RumRunner

[now I see]

You are some hard core seriously fiery eaters!!  I like a few jalepenos with the membrane and seeds thrown in, but not habeneros, you are tuff!  You sound like you're an awesome cook too!

I like your idea with the garlic, I'm gonna modify my recipe next time I make it and add the whole cloves and cheesy bread, I also use cilantro some of the time if I have it on hand, either in the chile towards the end of cooking-the leaves turn black when cooked- or as a condiment ro put on top with chopped onions, cheese and a squeeze of lime.

Interestly, speaking of chocolate, I like to use chocolate in mexican mole, I doctor the store bought kind with chicken broth, schmaltz (chicken fat rendering), chocolate, sauted onions and garlic, a bit of sugar and sometimes I add peanut butter or tahini.  I like mole as a sauce for chicken or turkey, over enchiladas, in homemade tamales or I add it to chlii.

[RumRunner]

Heh - mole is way to sweet for us. I've tried various concoctions but for better or for worse my kids and I can taste sugar so much that for us eating mole sauce is like eating a chocolate bar. If you put a bowl of olives out on the table along side a bowl of chocolates and turned my kids loose - the chocolates would be there tomorrow - the olives would be gone in 5 minutes or less...

Interestly, speaking of chocolate, I like to use chocolate in mexican mole, I doctor the store bought kind with chicken broth, schmaltz (chicken fat rendering), chocolate, sauted onions and garlic, a bit of sugar and sometimes I add peanut butter or tahini.  I like mole as a sauce for chicken or turkey, over enchiladas, in homemade tamales or I add it to chlii.

[now I see]

You know the sweetness is one of the things I like about chocolate moles, I always add some sugar to the Dona Maria jarred mole negro.  I'm also a chocolate fan too.  In my house the olives and the chocolate would be gone in the same amount of time!  

[Mister P-Mosh]

I would be curious how it would taste with lamb instead of pork. Also, try using ancho chili powder instead of the red pepper flakes. One other thing to try would be using serrano peppers instead of jalapeño peppers. It's a personal preference, but they are hotter.

[RumRunner]

Hmmm - Lamb - good idea - thanks - since both of my kids like lamb. Ditto on the serrano's although that is why we use habaneros...

I would be curious how it would taste with lamb instead of pork. Also, try using ancho chili powder instead of the red pepper flakes. One other thing to try would be using serrano peppers instead of jalapeño peppers. It's a personal preference, but they are hotter.

[Mister P-Mosh]

Hmmm - Lamb - good idea - thanks - since both of my kids like lamb. Ditto on the serrano's although that is why we use habaneros...

In some areas of Mexico they use a lot of lamb. I should post the birria recipe we made here, although the credit goes to Rick Bayless, as we used the one from his Mexican Everyday book and not some family recipe.

One problem I've had with making good Mexican food in the U.S. is the lack of good meat. For example, on my recent trip I ate some tacos with arrachera, which is a cut of skirt steak that we in the U.S. call fajita meat. They cooked it by only putting salt on it and grilling it, yet it was as tender as if you had slow-cooked the meat. I haven't been able to find skirt steak 1) without much fat, and 2) that tender without any effort here. Other cuts of meat used there that seem impractical for things like tacos are NY strips and such, which are pretty expensive here and still tougher than what I've had there.

That's one reason I like to use lamb, because there is a halal place nearby that has very fresh lamb. I'm not a big fan of pork, so I probably wouldn't use it like the original recipe here stated, but that's ok.

Oh, and one other type of meat that my wife will hopefully bring back from her trip is called machaca. There is a low-quality clone of it here in Texas called machado, but it's still different. Machaca is what is used in the original burritos from Sonora.

[RumRunner]

Man after my own heart - I can actually get real machaca here in San Diego - oh man I love that type of meat.

Oh, and one other type of meat that my wife will hopefully bring back from her trip is called machaca.

[leafytwiglet]

By the way the Purrrito is adorable!

[now I see]

I couldn't resist the Purrito (purrfect name), here's another one that came in as runner up:

:)  too cute!

Hey guys, goat is another meat you find eaten in Mexico that you can't find in the grocery stores here too often!  I've heard it is very good if cooked right...lamb and goat would probably do quite well in the Chile Verde!  P-Mosh share your Birria recipe when you have a chance!!

I looked up arrachera steak and found this blog where it says its the butcher that makes the big difference...http://morepleasebymargie.blogspot.com/200...teak-tacos.html although some also used marinades to procure even more tenderness using acids or fruit enzymes like lime, papaya, kiwi, or pinapple.

Rumrunner, have you ever eaten at Juanita's in Leucadia?  It's a must stop whenever I'm in the north county area, there's usually a line out the door.  

edited for spelling

Edited March 23, 2009 by now I see

[now I see]

If you're ever on the coast in north san diego, on the north end of Encinitas, technically in Leucadia, there's a divey surfer's hangout taco shop called Juanitas, they have great food, run by a hispanic family, and really good machado.  It's my favorite place to go for mexican food out there, and there's always a line out the door till 10 pm at night, there's also some great beaches in the area too.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/juanitas-taco-shop-encinitas

...and awesome fish tacos and fish burritos, carne asada, and chile rellenos burritos too! 

Edited April 2, 2009 by now I see

[RumRunner]

Ayep - hard to beat a fish taco...well unless it is a greasy wonderful chorizo burrito in the morning with peppers from the salsa bar...or a carnitas burrito for lunch with beans and LOTS of peppers from the bar...oh yeah - never mind - musta been rambling again.

BTW - only eat at hole in the wall places in San Diego for good Mexican food. All the expensive places or national chains serve mexi-gringo food

Edited April 2, 2009 by RumRunner

[leafytwiglet]

Our favorite place is the Haute Enchilada they just moved to new digs so it looks quite respectable in this picture... before it was in this hole in the wall kitzhy cafe I am hoping the new patio retains the previous charm.

Either way the food is out of this world excellent.

Yeah I can taste the "frijoles negro" just sitting here at my computer.. do not be tricked into going to the nearby whole enchilada... not that their food isn't dellicious too but it in no way compares to the Haute enchilada.

Walking distance to the ocean and a really fun area .. it is located in Moss Landing... a hole in the wall fishing town there. just north of Monterey, Caifornia.

Edited cause I forgot the link

The Haute Enchilada Cafe

Edited April 3, 2009 by leafytwiglet

[cheranne]