New Mexican green chili con carne

You know already about the obsession I developed for hot peppers (or chilEs) since I moved to the US. I have been using hot chiles pretty much every time I had the occasion to. But the one dish I have been experimenting the most with is chili (with an "i' con carne). Since I published my recipe for red chili con carne I have been making considerable modifications to it: I know some of you readers tried it in the past, so stay tuned, because I will soon publish a revamped recipe for what I named my Eva Mendes Chili (as hot as Eva Mendes).

But as every good lover of chili con carne knows, the chili con carne family is firmly divided in two camps: the red and the green one. The red chili is more ubiquitous, you can find it in pretty much every diner and family burger joint in America, whereas the green chili is typical of just the state of New Mexico.

The main differences between the green and red chilis are in the meat: the red chilis use mostly beef, venison and only seldom pork, whereas the green chilis are ALWAYS with pork, if they are traditional. Also, the green chilis do not have any type of vegetables aside the green chiles, whereas red chilis sometimes include beans and tomatoes (not in Texas, I know).

The chiles used in the green chili should be the New Mexican variety, but it can be made also with poblanos, jalapenos and serranos. As far as I understand, the New Mexican chiles may be tough to find outside of the Southwest of the US (and in fact, I cannot find them in Chicago). You can either buy them online (Amazon carries them), or you can simply make this dish using more common green chiles, like poblanos, jalapenos and serranos. The flavors will be different though, but it will still be a smashing good chili dish.

Culprit a visit to New Mexico a few months ago, I came back home with a lot of dried New Mexican chiles, and I have been "studying" the green chili con carne beast for a long time. I know, it sounds crazy, but I think I have read every possible green chili recipe that I have found online, and at least 5 recipes from my books. Yet, the recipe that I have developed and that was a smashing success at a recent chili dinner is different from all those that I have read, borrowing from here and there, and adding my own thing.

So this is it. Make it and enjoy it.

New Mexican Green Chili (12 portions)

This recipe is not particularly difficult, but it is time consuming: so I recommend that when you make it, you make it in large quantities, so that you can freeze the leftovers or make other dishes with it (it makes an excellent sauce for flat breads...).

This chili will not be as soupy as my red chili: the texture will be that of a stew, and the pork will be tender and will have started to break down (see photo at the bottom). If you want, you can add more chicken stock, so that the concoction will become more liquid.

As with any chili, this will get better the next day, and the next day, and the day after next...

Click here to download the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds of pork shoulder, cut in 1/2 inches cubes, with some fat removed
• 3 thick slices of bacon
• 1 pound of fresh tomatillos
• 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 New Mexican green chiles, if available
• 1 poblano peppers (3 if the NM green chiles are unavailable), stemmed, veined and seeded and finely chopped (*)
• 2 jalapeno peppers (4 if the NM green chiles are unavailable), stemmed veined and seeded and finely chopped (*)
• 2 serrano peppers (4 if the NM green chiles are unavailable), stemmed veined and seeded and finely chopped (*)
• 1 habanero pepper, stemmed, veined and seeded and finely chopped (optional, for heat)
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 2 1/2 tbsp of ground cumin
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• 1/3 cup of masa harina (or simple flour, if you don't find the masa) to dust the meat
• 1 tbsp of masa (or flour) to add to the concoction
• salt and pepper 
• 1/2 a bunch of cilantro leaves
• 1 tbsp Mexican oregano 
• 1 lime (optional)

(*) Leave the peppers' seeds if you want your chili to be HOT.

How to make it

• Bring some water to boil, and boil the tomatillos, husked, for 20 minutes, or until they are soft and they have changed their color to brownish. Once they are cooked, put them in a blender or a food processor to pure them with 1/2 cup of water. Remove from the food processor. 
• If you are using dry peppers, reconstitute them placing them in hot water for one or two hours, or until they are soft (don't throw that water then, because it has a lot of flavor: add it to the tomatillos in the blender). 
• Seed and vein all the peppers (the reconstituted ones and the fresh ones) and chop them. You can either chop them with a good old knife, or you can put them in a blender or food processor. I am weird, and I like chopping with a knife: it is time consuming, but it gives me peace of mind. But your choice. 
• Put the pork cubes in a plastic ziplock bag with 1/3 cup of masa harina (or flour) and shake the bag, so that the pork cubes gets coated with the masa. 
• Cook the slices of bacon in a large pan until they are crisp. Remove them from the pan and put them on paper towel  to dry. Chop them in small pieces. DO NOT remove the bacon fat from the pan.
• Sear the pork in the bacon fat, until all the sides of the pork cubes are golden brown. Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in 2-3 batches. If the bacon's grease is not enough, you can add more if you have it, or melt some butter. 
• Place the pork cubes on a paper towel to dry.
• In the same pan where you seared the pork, add the onions, the garlic and the cumin, and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Before you add the onions and garlic to the pan beware: you may have to melt some more bacon fat/butter.
• IF YOU HAVE A SLOWCOOKER: put the meat, the bacon the onions and garlic, the pureed tomatillos, the chopped peppers, the sugar in a slowcooker. Use 1/2 a cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan used for the pork and the onions, and then add the liquid to the slowcooker. Add the oregano. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cup of chicken stock and cook on low for 8-10 hours. One hour before the cooking is done, add 1 tbsp of masa (or flour) to the conction, stir and cook for an additional hour.  Taste, and adjust for salt and pepper (if you want).
• WITHOUT A SLOWCOOKER: put the meat, the bacon the onions and garlic, the pureed tomatillos, the chopped peppers, the sugar in a dutch oven or a casserole with tall walls. Use 1/2 a cup of the chicken stock to deglaze the pan used for the pork and the onions, and then add the liquid to the dutch oven with the pork. Add the oregano. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cup of chicken stock, bring to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring now and then. 1/2 an hour before the cooking is done, add 1 tbsp of masa (or flour) to the conction, and stir. Taste, and adjust for salt and pepper (if you want).
• You can serve it with fried dough or with some corn taco tortillas or even with naan bread, if you don't care so much for the New Mexican traditional spirit. A squeeze of lime over it before serving it will perfectly complement its flavors. 

It tastes a lot better than it looks: BELIEVE ME.