My grandma was an awesome cook. Unfortunately, for most of my childhood, I was a punk kid who didn't eat anything she made. Unless it was mac and cheese. She knew I was an extremely picky eater, and she made me mac and cheese every time we went to her house for dinner. I swear the woman was a saint in that regard. Or maybe she just didn't want to hear me whine. That is a definite possibility because I was a great whiner! The year before she died, we had a Mexican feast, and she served this pork green chili. I hemmed and hawed and finally tried it...and I fell in love. Oh boy is this good. So I immediately asked her for the recipe and have been making it ever since. The main thing I love about this is that it's not a sauce. It's a chili. You can eat it with some cheese and sour cream along with a tortilla. You certainly can put it on top of a burrito or enchilada, but it's great in a bowl by itself.

My aunt makes this too (although I'm not sure if it's the same recipe). She grew up in southwest Colorado and is a great cook, especially of Mexican foods. She told me that if you cook your onions first and then remove them from the pot while you brown the meat, you'll get greater flavor out of your onions. So now I do that with any recipe where I have to soften an onion. I use canned mild chilis in this, and I think it can get pretty spicy so you may want to be careful about how many red pepper flakes you use if you're not immune to spicy foods. I've also used a huge bag of frozen diced green chilis in this recipe, too. You definitely can adjust the seasonings in this to make it how you like. The other beauty of this is you can make it and have it on the table in a couple of hours. It's a perfect weekend dinner in my opinion...plus, it makes for great leftover lunches all week!

Pork Green Chili Recipe
Serves 4
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Notes from my grandma: You can use pork chops, pork shoulder roast, or any other lean pork. It also works well in the slow cooker. After you've simmered it for an hour, if it's too thin, you can dissolve some cornstarch in water and add to the pot. Bring to a boil. Fresh roasted chilis are great, too.

1 pound pork, cubed
2 tablespoons butter, divided
Small white onion, diced
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans (7 ounces each) mild diced green chilis
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
Dash cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano

Combine the 1/2 teaspoons of salt and pepper with the 1/4 cup flour. Dredge the cubed pork through the seasoned flour. 
 
In a large saucepan, melt one tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Place the diced onion in the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes until soft. Remove the onion to a bowl. Melt the other tablespoon of butter and add the flour-covered pork to the pan. Let sit for three minutes to brown. Stir and let brown for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds until fragrant. Add in the chicken broth and scrape the bottom of the pot. Add rest of the ingredients and let simmer for one hour. Adjust the seasonings to your preference.

Serve warm with cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortillas.

Source: My lovely grandma
 


Comments

11/15/2012 11:17pm

Woooooowee, girl! This looks deeelish! I love chili and am always looking for recipes to change it up...I've never made green chili and it sounds wonderful, especially with a handful of shredded cheddar! Love it, can't wait to try it!

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11/16/2012 8:31am

This sounds so good, saving it to try soon!

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Whoa…bessie! This chili looks freaking delish! Consider it bookmarked!

P.S. I had a great time meeting you last night! Sorry about the parking ticket:( Let's get together again soon. Have a good weekend!

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11/16/2012 1:20pm

It looks great! Living here in New Mexico, I adore our green chile stew. This recipe looks very tasty and I look forward to making it.

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11/17/2012 12:21am

so sweet of your grandma to always make the one thing she knew you'd love! and even sweeter to make something else you were bound to try, enjoy, and share with us! :-)

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Your grandma sounds so incredibly sweet!! And her chili looks yummy :)

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11/18/2012 8:41pm

This looks amazing! I love chili, but I always make it with ground beef. This looks like a delicious change!

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11/19/2012 11:15am

That looks like a great pork dish! I would be sure to use real New Mexico Chili, though. I get mine from these guys: http://www.chimayochilebrothers.com/shop
Once you have had real powdered green chili from New Mexico, nothing else will do!

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