Pork Chili Verde

So when I gave my recipe for the tomatillo sauce, it generated a couple of questions. Could it be used as a base for a Chili Verde. As a big fan of this dish I thought about it and decided to see what I could do. I know this is not an authentic New Mexico Chili Verde recipe. I do not claim it to be. I do claim that it is authentic Anthony Messina Chili Verde. That is what I will stand by.

I started out with getting a definition of Chili Verde:
Pigonaspit.com says it is "Stew or sauce usually made from chunks of pork that have been slow cooked in chicken broth, garlic, tomatillos, and jalapeño peppers." while dictonary.com says it is "a stew of beef or pork, or both, flavored with hot green peppers." I had both of these covered.

I started with slow roasting my pork in my favorite dry rub with the peppers for added flavor and mde my stew based on this. I purposly cooked more pork then I was going to need so I would have plenty of drippings to add back in.

The six peppers looks like it is going to be very spicy but it has a very nice rounded flavor when complete.

Pork Chili Verde

The time it takes to roast everything adds to the flavors. You could probably just skip this and cube the pork and brown it. Remove it from the pan, roast the peppers then start the chili in that way, but that is not the way I like to do things. Respect the Pig. Allow it time to generate the flavors and you will be rewarded. My personal choice for rubs is a variation of the Perini rub from the book Texas Cowboy Cooking.

5 lbs Pork But bone in
¼ cup Favorite Dry Rub
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 ea Jalapeno Peppers
2 ea Poblano Peppers
2 ea Anaheim Peppers
2 ea Medium Yellow Onion
8 ea Garlic Clove
salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup Olive Oil
1.5 lbs Tomatillo, Fresh Rough Chopped
4 cups Chicken stock
3 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
3 tbsp lime juice, or to taste
1 bunch Cilantro tops

Oven Temperature: 200°F


To Cook the Pork:

1 Place Pork in a deep Roasting Pan.

2 Sprinkle with dry rub and cumin then massage into pork.

3 Place in center of pan, fat side up.

4 Peel an quarter one of the onions and place in bottom of the pan.

5 Place whole peppers, and garlic cloves around the pork in the pan.

6 Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper and cover tightly with foil, making sure that the foil is not touching the meat.

7 Place in oven at 200 Degrees and allow to cook for 12 hours.

8 Remove pork from pan and set aside, strain juices from pan.

9 Set peppers, garlic and onion aside, and allow juices to separate.

10 Shred pork with fingers or 2 forks to desired size.

Assemble the Chili Verde:

1 Heat pot over medium heat, and add olive oil.

2 Chop remaining onion and add to pot, cook till starts to brown.

3 Turn heat down to medium and add Tomatillos cooking for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

4 Remove stems from cooked peppers, and add to pot along with onion and garlic that was cooked with pork.

5 Skim fat from reserved juices and add up to two cups to pot.

6 Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes.

7 Using a standing or immersion blender puree the mixture.

8 Stir in pork till you have the amount you would like to use, ( I used about 2/3rds)

9 Return to a simmer and add lime juice to taste.

10 Stir in chopped cilantro and adjust seasoning.

Serve over rice if you would like and enjoy! This makes quite a bit so have a few friends around to help you eat it.

Tomatillo Sauce

Just a quick and small recipe. This is one I find that I use quite a bit. It is very versatile, and can be adapted to many things. I am putting it up now though as it is a small in integral part of a dish that I will be putting up shortly.

Tomatillo Sauce


This is really a straight forward recipe. I use it as a base for many things from here. If you would like feel free to add some cilantro or a bit of lime juice. I tend to tailor it to the dish. Many of the people I have made this for are fine dipping chips in it as a salsa. The key in the end in the salt and pepper to your taste.

1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb Tomatillo, Fresh Rough Chopped
1 ea Medium onion chopped
3 ea Garlic Clove, crushed
1 each jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded if desired and
minced
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 Heat Medium saucepan over Medium heat.

2 Add Tomatillo, Garlic, Jalapeno and Onion.

3 Simmer until tomatillo breaks down and sauce thickens (about 45 minutes) Stirring occasionally.

4 Place mixture in blender and puree till smooth. (if adding lime juice or Cilantro this is the time)

5 Season with salt and pepper to taste.
 
Enjoy

Chicken in Vindaloo Sauce

This is not a traditional Chicken Vindaloo in any sense of the word.But after working on it I really liked it. Let me say this though, I like all cuisines. I like Indian cuisine, but it can be a bit daunting. The cuisine is so huge you could take a lifetime to scratch the surface. I decided that I would try and make a different version of Chicken Vindaloo. I read a lot of different recipes and put them together to come up with this one. What I was going for was exactly what I got. I wanted to make a sauce out of the Vindaloo that I could pour over chicken and rice. Since the chicken usually cooks in sauce, I added some chicken granules to the sauce to impart that flavor. It turned out very nice. Keep in mind that most curry powders are different, and I make my own.

Recipe:

Chicken with Vindaloo Sauce

Servings: 2

I prefer to use skin on Chicken, for the crunch it adds, and to cook it in cast iron. Serve with homemade or store bought Naan. Use a homemade curry powder if you can, store bought works fine as well, just be ready to adjust the seasonings. The sauce makes enough for eight chicken breasts.

5 tbsp Olive oil
3 tbsp Garlic, Minced
5 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
5 tsp paprika
2 ea Chicken breasts- Boneless, skin on
1 ea Medium onion chopped
2 tbsp Curry Powder
1.5 lbs roma Tomato dices
2 tbsp Ginger-root grated
2 tbsp chicken bouillon granules
½ cup water
¼ cup fresh cilantro chopped
1 each Lime slices, for garnish

Oven Temperature: 350°F

1 Mix together 3 Tbsp Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp Garlic, 3 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar and 2 tsp of the Paprika in a non-reactive bowl. Add Chicken to this, cover and place into refrigerator for 30 min to 2 hours.

2 Heat a saucepan to med-high. Add oil.

3 When oil begins to shimmer add Onions and remaining garlic. Cook till translucent and just beginning to brown.

4 Stir in Curry Powder and remaining Paprika.

5 When mixture is evenly mixed add Roma Tomato. Reduce heat to medium and cover.

6 After tomato has begun to release their juice (about 5 minutes), Stir in Ginger and Chicken Bullion.

7 Add water and puree until smooth in blender or submersion blender, then return to pot on a low simmer and cover.

8 Stir in Cilantro, remaining Red Wine Vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper.

9 Sauce can be held for up to three days in the refrigerator at this point and reheated when needed.

10 Cook Basmati Rice according to package directions.

11 Heat oven safe pan (I like cast iron) over medium high heat.

12 Add chicken skin side down and cook till skin is crisp (3-4 minutes)

13 Turn chicken and place in oven until cooked through.

14 To Serve place a bed of rice on a plate, place Chicken skin side up, and cover liberally with sauce. Serve with lime wedge.


Enjoy.

A Little Turnover

In the February/March issue of Fine Cooking Magazine there was a recipe for French Apple Turnovers. It is very straight forward and simple, which made it easy to remember. And as Chef Alexander always said “If you know the method and technique you can make anything”


Tonight at work, we had a little spare time so I made a version of these for the staff. Sautéed Granny Smith Apples in butter. I then mixed in some fresh blueberries, cinnamon, brown sugar, granulated sugar and a touch of lemon juice. When everything was nicely cooked down, it was removed from the heat to cool. I grabbed a piece of thawed puff pastry and rolled it out slightly. The puff pastry was cut in half lengthwise, and the filling was placed inside of it. Brushed the edges in egg wash and folded it over to seal it. Egg washed the top, sprinkled a bit of sugar over the top and placed the filled puff in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes till they were golden brown. After being removed from the oven and allowed to cool topped them with a vanilla bean glaze and sliced them up.

I got better compliments on these turnovers that everyone got a few bites of, than some of the dishes that we make them for dinner.

I will have to write down an actual recipe for this one.

So the dice are cast.

Today I was asked and cast my dice. I like to think that I listen to people very well. I know sometime it may not seem like I hear them but I do. I have a few people in my life that have the funniest way of saying exactly what I need to hear at the exact moment that I need to hear it. Not when I am looking for advice or input, just general conversation, but they say something that clicks.

Last year I had a letter of recommendation written for me, at the interview, I was asked if I knew what the letter said. As the letter was sealed when I received and turned it in I said I did not (which was true). And I was told that the letter spoke very highly of my integrity. I figured this traced back to a competition that I won, where I could of taken credit for the win on my own, and the person that had worked with me would of been 100% fine with it. I shared credit for this with her, as she was an equal member of the team, and was just a part of the win as I was. Thank you Chef.

I bring this up because of who wrote this I have felt like since then I have to live up to it even more. Honestly works best. If you lie, you have to remember the lie. That in itself is harder than just accepting the consequences of your actions.

I don't take credit for work I did not do, and give credit where it is due.

Rewards are best when they are actually earned, and I won’t push my friends out of the way for my needs. It is not I don’t consider it "selfless" just honest.

Enough with the endless babble, onto the culinary side.

So chefs get a flavor profile stuck in their heads. When they do, they will sometime explore it till they never want to taste it again. I am in one of those modes right now. The victim is.......

Cherry Anise.
This may sound like a weird one, but one night it came to me and has been stuck with me. Jam, Sauce and even a cupcake. It is nice, the jam itself will can be used as a base of the sauce or as a cake filling when done right.

But for the dish with the sauce I see it going along these lines:

Placed on a bed of wild rice which carries a very nutty flavor would be placed medallions of roasted pork tenderloin. This would be topped with the Cherry Anise sauce, that has a touch of soy sauce added to it.

Be Safe.

Gambling

I have been told many times that I am a gambler. Not with money, but with decisions. I take chances. When I make my decision I go with it.


I am a big fan of playing the cards that I am dealt. Anyone who has played poker can tell you that very few hands are winning hands. That is if you play the cards put in front of you. You have to also play the people at the table as well.

Dice are a little different. You make your bet then throw the dice. Where they land is your outcome. Win or lose you made your play.

What does this have to do with anything? Well it is life.

Sometimes you are dealt cards and you have to play them. When the hand is over you have to be able to look back and be able to say to yourself that you played the hand the best you could of. This may mean that you did not let everyone know the cards you hold. Standing fast hoping that the other person does not realize you are sitting on a weak hand, or on that you have all the cards and no matter how they play it, you are walking with the pot. Either way, you will learn something from the hand. Not only how that hand should be played, but also about your opponents.

As with dice, you have your choice, make your decision and throw the dice. Sometimes you come out ahead and other times you lose big. But without great risk you cannot reap great rewards. You stick with the decision till the game has ended. Then you can cash out and get ready for the next roll.

Where this is coming from is actually many fold. Many things are currently going on that make this analogy surface here. One is very recent that makes me very happy that I played my cards the way I did. The other makes me happy I threw my dice the direction I did.

I know this whole thing sounds cryptic and scattered but the meaning is there.

I remember most things of note that are said to me. I learn from them, directly and sometimes indirectly. Today I had someone say something to me that will most assuredly stay with me for a while, and made me realize that I did play a couple hands the correct way.

To paraphrase: Valentines may last for a day, but best friends are forever.