Hatch Chili Green Chilie

A couple of weeks ago,  I was so excited to get my Hatch green chilies when they came in at our local market.   I made a great cheese, bacon and egg stuffed Hatch chili for breakfast one morning,  The Handyman made his famous  Hatch Green chili and grilled chicken tacos one evening, we roasted some and froze some and I also mad this great  Green Chili.

We love Green Chili. I first had it years ago, when a friend served me some canned Green Chili over Fritos.   It sounds weird, but it was good and I've loved all sorts of green chili every since.
She was from Wyoming, and I'm not sure of the brand, but I've never been able to find her  canned green chili since.  

I make a good green chili, which we love, but it is made with a jarred green chili sauce---kind of like a 'semi-homemade' version with fresh ingredients and packaged, so I thought since I had some fresh Hatch  Chilies, I would make my own homemade version of Green Chili.

I made a crock-pot version found on this website Latin O Foodie.  I haven't had time to check it out much, but there look like a lot of good Mexican/Tex-Mex inspired recipes on here.

The first time I tasted this--it was HOT*.  So I added some cubed potatoes in hopes that they would soak up all that hotness and just leave the goodness of the flavor.
We really liked the addition of the potatoes---it was more like a green chili stew.  And when I ate it, it really wasn't too hot.
Although you just have to  play around with that one,  All green chilies are alike in that sometimes they are mild and sometimes really hot.  
Taste and experiment is all you can do.

*I had trouble figuring out what tomatillo sauce was vs green chili salsa.  I could not find a can of tomatillo sauce in our little town.  I Googled it and all I could find were recipes and references to a green chili salsa...which the main ingredient is  of course, tomatillos.
So, I purchased a can of green chili salsa, which might not seem too different from the other  green chili recipe I made---but it really was. Because this one had FRESH Hatch Green Chilies in addition.
If you know what tomatillo sauce is, please let me know.

I would make this again.  We both really liked it.

I am going to link this up to "See you in the Gumbo" hosted by Michelle at  Ms. enPlace.  It's a potluck party she hosts on her blog.   This Sunday is  #98 for her.  

Hatch Green Chile Verde

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 6 hours in the slow cooker
Serves: 6 to 8 people

Ingredients: 
For the pork:

2 pounds – boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoon each – Salt and black pepper
2 tablespoon – Vegetable oil
2/3 cup – onion, chopped

For the Hatch Chile Verde sauce:

1 tablespoon – olive oil
½ cup – onion, chopped
2 teaspoon – garlic, minced
6 whole – Hatch Chiles, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 cup – chicken broth
½ teaspoon – salt
½ teaspoon – ground cumin
1 (16-ounce) can – tomatillo Sauce

Directions

For the Hatch Green Chile Sauce

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and saute until translucent and soft.
3. Add the garlic and saute 1 minute without allowing the garlic to brown.
4. Add chiles, chicken broth, salt, and cumin.
5. Bring the mixture to boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool slightly.
6. Combine the chile mixture and the tomatillo sauce in a blender and purée.

For the Slow Cooked Pork

1. Season the pork with salt and pepper.
2. Heat a large saucepan or skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Add the oil and heat until shimmering.
4. Add the pork and brown all sides.
5. Transfer the meat to a slow cooker.
6. Add onions.
7. Add the chile verde sauce and cover.
8. Slow cook on medium for six hours, or until pork is fork-tender.

Your entire home will be filled with the wondrous aroma of roasted green chiles, onion and garlic when making the chile verde. Make sure to check on the heat level of your Hatch chiles. They come in mild to extremely hot.