Chile Verde

For the Super Bowl, with Denver as one of the teams, I knew it had to be GREEN Chile.

This batch was cooked on low in the crock pot all day.  I cooled and refrigerated it overnight and rewarmed the next day for the game day party.  An overnight melding of flavors guaranteed this was delicious.

4 large Poblano peppers

3 T. vegetable oil
1/2 cup self rising flour

1/4 t. salt

few grinds of black pepper

2 pounds boneless pork chops, cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 large can of tomatillos, drained

1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1 large white onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

6 small cans of diced green chiles

1 can of Rotel tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

2 t. ground cumin
2 t. Mexican oregano

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

3 T. flour
3 T. water

First let's get the peppers ready. If you don't have a grill, you can carefully roast your peppers under the broiler. The main goal here is to char the outside of the peppers until the skin becomes black. Then remove from the flame, put inside a bag, close it tightly and allow the peppers to cool. The skin will simply slip off the peppers. Chop the peppers, discard the stem and set aside.

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add the oil and let it heat until it shimmers. While the oil is heating, mix the flour with the salt and pepper and coat the diced pieces of pork. You will need to brown the pork cubes in batches, removing them as they become brown and adding more pork until all are cooked.

Place the tomatillos and red bell pepper in a food processor and process until they are in liquid form.

I cooked my chili in the slow cooker, but you could certainly cook in a large Dutch oven on top of the stove.

Add the tomatillo/red bell pepper mixture to the pot along with the browned pork and the chopped poblanos.

Next add in the remaining 8 ingredients.  Stir to combine everything and bring to a boil if you're cooking on top of stove.  Then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and stir often so the chile doesn't stick.  In about 2 - 3 hours, you'll be ready to eat!

If you're cooking in the slow cooker, cover and set to high for 5 - 6 hours or low for 6 - 8 hours.

This is a thick chile. If needed, mix together the flour and water in a small bowl to make a "slurry." Add to the chile to thicken if desired.

Top with chopped cilantro or sour cream. And it really IS better if you make it a day ahead of time.