Chile Verde (Pork Stew With Green Chilis)

With fall in our midst, we decided to move some of our pepper plants inside. I guess the habaneros liked the heat because they turned orange in no time. In my quest for a recipe that uses this particular type of pepper, I found an old one I used from the JavaFoto archives.

The plant itself was small and fit into a one gallon container but very productive.

These peppers were from our garden (hold your breath for these names!) – Big Jim Hot Pepper, Alma Paprika Sweet Pepper, Cherry Bomb Pepper, Hungarian Yellow Wax Pepper, Cayenne, Jalapeno. We also added  a green tomato and a store-bought Anaheim pepper. The green tomato added some tartness which rounded out the flavor so well that we added a second one.

Stew in process

Dinner is ready!

We opened a bottle of  Bad Henry IPA to go with the meal. If you haven’t already tried it, we highly recommend that you go get a bottle right now. I am not a big fan of IPA beers but I loved this one. It has a slight sweetness that made it smooth. We recently met Henry at Whole Foods Market when he was sampling the beers. Fire Mountain Brew House is in Carlton, OR.

RECIPE:

3 lbs. pork shoulder, cubed
3 lg. onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. oregano, crumbled
1 c. assorted green peppers, chopped
1-2 green tomatoes (optional)
3 tbsp. flour
Water
Salt & pepper
olive oil to saute

Cut away as much fat as possible from the pork and cut into cubes. Brown meat in olive oil. Remove from pan and sprinkle meat with the flour. Brown onions and garlic in frying pan until transparent, but not brown. Add meat, oregano, chilies to onion mixture and add water to cover. Simmer 2 to 3 hours to tenderize the meat*. Add salt and pepper during last 1/2 hour. Cool and degrease stew.  Serve rolled inside flour tortillas. Serves 6.

* Alternatively, use a pressure cooker or crock pot to tenderize the meat.