No Brainer Chili Verde Recipes

CHILI VERDE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add 1/2 cup of olive oil. Stir in the onion, garlic, serrano and jalapeno peppers and cook until soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place the pork shoulder in a large heavy bottomed pot, coated with oil, over medium heat and sear until well browned on all sides. Deglaze with the chicken broth, and then add sauteed onions and peppers. Turn heat to low, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the Anaheim peppers on a sheet pan.
• Peel the outer paper skins off the tomatillos, then coat with olive oil and place on another sheet pan. Place both pans in the preheated oven and roast until the peppers are nicely charred and the tomatillos are soft, about 20 minutes.
• Remove pans from the oven and place the peppers in a plastic bag to let them steam for 5 minutes.
• Peel and seed peppers, and then puree them with the tomatillos in a food processor. Add the puree to the pork mixture, stir, and then let simmer on low heat.
• Combine the garlic powder, black pepper, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, ground coriander and salt in a small bowl, then add to pork mixture and stir well.
• In a small saute pan, mix 1/2 cup olive oil with the corn flour, stirring over low heat for 2 minutes to make a masa roux.
• Let the chili mixture simmer for approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours on medium-low heat, or until pork is nice and tender. Then stir in masa roux and simmer for 10 more minutes.

SLOW COOKER PORK CHILE VERDE

Steps:

• Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown pork pieces in the hot oil, about 5 minutes. Place pork into the bottom of a slow cooker.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Saute onion, chopped Anaheim chile, and garlic for 5 minutes, adding more oil if needed. Add mixture to the slow cooker; pour in chicken broth.
• Cover and cook on High until pork is tender and easily shredded with a fork, about 4 hours.
• Set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Brush the whole chile peppers with oil and place on a baking sheet.
• Broil in the preheated oven for 5 minutes per side. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Remove pulp and seeds from chiles and cut into pieces. Place into the bowl of a food processor with enchilada sauce, cilantro, cumin, and chili powder. Puree until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Remove pork from the slow cooker and shred using 2 forks; return to the slow cooker. Add pureed chile pepper mixture and stir well. Cook on Low, 3 to 4 hours more.

EASY CHILE VERDE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat a medium Dutch oven (6 to 8 quarts) over medium-high. Swirl in 2 tablespoons oil. Working in batches, brown pork all over, 16 to 20 minutes total (adding remaining oil when needed). Let pork cool slightly, then cut into 1-inch chunks.
• Return Dutch oven to medium-high heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Return pork to Dutch oven along with canned chiles, salsa, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, then cover and transfer to oven. Roast until pork is very tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Let stand 10 minutes; skim fat with a spoon and serve with various accompaniments on the side.

AUTHENTIC RESTAURANT CHILI VERDE

Steps:

• 1. Cut aneheim chilis into 2-inch pieces; cut jalepenos into thin slices. Put into large pot; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Add cumin seed (about 1 teaspoon). Turn down to a simmer; let simmer for about 1/2 hour - to take "green taste" out of chilis.
• 2. Meanwhile, chop onion and garlic. Cut pork into bite-sized pieces - do not remove the fat; it really adds to the flavor!
• 3. Brown pork in batches in oil or lard in skillet. In last batch, add onion and garlic, to lightly brown. Do not drain off the grease - I didn't say this was particularly healthy - just good!
• 4. Remove peppers from water with slotted spoon; try to include as much cumin seed as possible. Save cooking water.
• 5. Process peppers in a blender until liquified; add a bit of cooking water if needed to thin sauce - although do keep in mind that the sauce will thin while cooking with pork.
• 6. Put browned pork back in skillet (or large pot) along with the garlic and onions. Stir in the chili sauce. Bring to a boil; then turn down to a slow simmer. Cook at a slow simmer (barely breaking bubbles) for 2 to 3 hours, or until tender.
• 7. If desired, serve with flour tortillas, Mexican rice and refried beans. Makes great chili verde burritos!

GREEN CHILI - CHICKEN CHILI VERDE

Steps:

• Remove husk of tomatillos. Roast tomatillos and chilies on open flame until nicely charred from all sides. Put chilies in a plastic bag (or container with lid) and let sweat. Once cooled, scrape off skin as much as possible, and remove seeds. Rough dice and add chilies, tomatillos, cilantro stems and half of leaves into food processor. Process until puréed. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottom deep pan. Add onion and garlic with bay leaf. Sauté until onions are soft. (3-4 minutes)
• Add diced chicken, season with salt and black pepper with cumin power, oregano and sauté until chicken no longer pink and spices are fragrant. (2-3 minutes)
• Add puréed tomatillos-chilies mixture with 1/2 tsp of salt, diced potatoes (if using) with chicken stock. Mix well, bring to boil. Cover. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until liquid has reduced, chili thickened, potatoes and chicken are fully cooked and tender. Remove and discard bay leaf. Taste and adjust lime juice and salt.
• To serve, laddle soup into serving bowls, add fresh cilantro, dollop of sour cream or yogurt. Serve lime wedges and tortillas chips on side. Enjoy!

AUTHENTIC CHILE VERDE - SLOW COOKER, INSTANT POT, OR STOVETOP

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to broil or your oven's highest temperature setting, like 500 degrees.
• Place the tomatillos, poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, serrano pepper, onion, and whole unpeeled garlic cloves on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Broil for 10 minutes, flipping everything halfway through. If the garlic looks like it is beginning to burn, remove it when you flip everything else.
• Carefully remove the baking sheet from the oven. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a lid. After ten minutes, carefully pull the skin of the peppers off, removing as much as possible. You can also remove the seeds, depending on how spicy you like things. Peel the garlic.
• Add the tomatillos, peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro. and chicken broth to a blender along with any juices from the pan. Blend until it reaches your desired consistency. Some people like a chunkier sauce and some prefer a smoother sauce.
• Stovetop: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. Add the sauce and bring to a simmer. For chicken, let simmer on low heat for 25-30 minutes until the chicken easily shreds with a fork. For pork, simmer for 2.5-3 hours until pork easily pulls apart.
• Slow Cooker: Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. (You can skip this step but it adds more flavor if you sear the protein first.) Add to the slow cooker with the sauce. For chicken, cook on low for 4 hours. For pork, cook on low for 8 hours or until the pork is fork tender.
• Instant Pot: Use the instant pot saute setting. Add the chicken (or pork), season with salt and pepper, and brown for 2-3 on both sides. Add the chile verde salsa and cover. For chicken thighs, use the manual (Pressure Cooker) setting and cook for 8 minutes. Let naturally release for at least 2-3 minutes before using the steam valve. For pork, use the manual (Pressure Cooker) setting and cook for 45 minutes. Let naturally release for at least 2-3 minutes before using the steam valve.

CHILE VERDE PORK

Steps:

• Season pork pieces on all sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large stock pot over high heat. Add oil. Once hot, sear the pork pieces until browned on all sides.
• Remove the pork from the pot. Add a little additional oil to pan, if needed.
• Add onion and saute until tender. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
• Stir in the cumin and oregano. Return pork to the pot and add the chicken broth.
• Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 2-4 hours.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce.
• Place rack on second to top level of oven and turn the oven to high broil.
• Lightly spray a jelly roll pan with cooking oil. Wash the poblano peppers, jalapeños and tomatillos.
• Slice the tomatillo and both types of peppers in half, and remove stems. Seed the peppers and remove the white veins inside if if you do not want the chile verde to be very spicy. (See my note below about spice level). Do not seed the tomatillos.
• Place the poblano peppers, jalapeño and tomatillos on baking sheets cut side down. Broil for about 7-10 minutes or until browned.
• Immediately place peppers in a plastic bag and tie the bag. Allow them to steam for 5 minutes, and then peel off their outer layer of skin. (It should come off easily)
• Add the peppers, tomatillos and cilantro to a blender and puree.
• Add mixture to the pot with the pork and cook everything together for an additional 30 to 45 minutes.
• Serve with tortillas, and a side of Mexican rice and beans.

CHICKEN CHILE VERDE

Steps:

• You can cook the chicken any way you want, but for this batch I brined and baked it. To brine the chicken, add 1/2 cup Kosher or sea salt to 2 quarts of water in a mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the salt and add the chicken breasts, letting them brine in the fridge for 30 minutes or so. If the chicken isn't fully submerged then add a bit more water. Once brined, pat dry the chicken and add it to a baking sheet.
• Pull off the husks of the tomatillos and give them a good rinse. I usually de-stem them too. Add the tomatillos to the baking sheet along with the rinsed poblanos (and the chicken) and roast everything in the oven at 400F. Cook the chicken until it registers 160F or until the insides are no longer pink -- this usually takes 20 minutes but sometimes it will take a couple extra minutes if there was an extensive brine. Remove the chicken once cooked and let the poblanos and tomatillos roast for an additional 10 minutes or so. I usually cover the cooked chicken breasts with foil until I need them.
• De-stem and de-seed the roasted poblanos. Add the roasted poblanos and tomatillos to a blender along with 1/2 onion, 4 peeled garlic cloves, 15-20 cilantro sprigs, and 1-4 rinsed, de-stemmed jalapenos. If you want a milder batch start with 1 jalapeno, combine, and take a taste for heat level, adding more jalapeno to increase the heat. I used 2 1/2 jalapenos for this batch and it had some zip.
• Simmer the green sauce in a dollop of oil (or lard) over mediumish heat. Add 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano, 1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional), 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional), and some freshly cracked black pepper. Taste for seasoning. Note: if you brine the chicken you probably won't need to add much additional salt.
• Use two forks to shred the chicken breasts and then add the shredded chicken to the green sauce. Bring everything up to a uniform temp and serve immediately.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge where they will keep for a few days.
• If you want to serve them Tostada style, warm up the refried beans in a skillet over medium-low heat for a few minutes, crumble the Cotija cheese by pulling a knife across a chunk of it, dice up any Pickled Serranos or Pickled Jalapenos that you're using, and chop up some freshly rinsed cilantro. Each warm tostada shell gets refried beans, Chicken Chile Verde, Cotija, Pickled Yummies, cilantro, and a final squeeze of lime.