pork chile verde

perusing the aisles of the new albertson's-turned-lucky's supermarket on a gloomy, foggy summer evening in daly city, i decided i wanted something pork and hearty for dinner (surprise, surprise). i seem to be into the mexican thing lately, so i picked up a package of boneless pork ribs, an onion, 2 carrots, and 2 small cans of salsa verde, a medium hot salsa made from tomatillos, to make pork chile verde.

in searching for a chile verde recipe, i came across many different versions and nothing that really appealed to me. so i decided to create my own based on what i've seen and tasted at mexican restaurants as well as my own culinary background. here's what i did.

i prepped ingredients by cutting the pork into 1" chunks, roughly chopping the onion and carrots, slicing a couple cloves of garlic, and chopping a small handful of fresh cilantro.

i seasoned the pork with salt and pepper and browned them in olive oil in 2 batches.

after getting a golden brown crust on the pork, i removed them to a plate to rest and added more olive oil to the pan.

the onions, garlic and carrots went in to saute for a few minutes until the onions started to soften. i then deglazed the pan with a bit of dry vermouth to loosen up all that browned goodness stuck on the bottom of the pan. this would richen the sauce greatly and add more depth and flavor.

the pork went back in along with the 2 cans of salsa verde. i brought this back up to a boil and then lowered the heat to very low so the stew could simmer for the next 1.5 hours.

i taste tested the chile verde a few times while simmering and realized the salsa verde i used was much too spicy and powerful. it was reducing and concentrating spices and flavor as moisture evaporated over the long simmer time. i had to add a half cup of water twice in order to get the stew to the right consistency and tame the spiciness a bit. once the pork had reached fork-tender texture, i removed the pot from the heat and set it aside while i prepped a wild rice pilaf and roasted some baby broccoli stalks in the toaster oven with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

this turned out great. the pork was flavorful, moist, and oh so tender. the carrots were sweet and soft, the onions had mostly melted into the sauce. i also sprinkled the chopped cilantro for garnish and a great kick of fresh green flavor. the chile verde itself was still pretty spicy, but bearable and really opened up the palate and appetite.

and as you can see, the pork had that "pulled" texture that only comes with long, slow cooking. mm... and besides the long simmer time, this dish is amazingly simple to make and so delicious and hearty to eat. expect pork chile verde to make my regular repitoire of recipes.

who needs no stinkin' recipe? if you know some basic cooking methods, you can apply them to any dish. be creative and fearless in the kitchen. good things result.