The Professor’s Green Chili Stew

I have been tinkering with this recipe for a few years. I like making it a day before serving – the flavors get better after a night in the fridge. Serve with fry bread for dipping!

Ingredients

• • 2 lbs green Hatch, Pueblo, or Anaheim chilis
  • 4-5 tomatillos, husked
  • 4 lbs pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into bite-size chunks
  • 2 TB bacon vegetable oil or bacon grease, for browning
  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1-2 teaspoon dried Oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
  • 6-8 cups chicken stock
  • 6-8 small Yukon gold potatoes
  • 2-3 cobs of corn (or 1 can)
  • 4-5 carrots

Instructions

• Roast and Prepare Green Chilis, Tomatillos, Corn, Carrots, and Potatoes
  • Chilis
    • Roast on grill (or in oven under broiler on a sheet pan) for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely charred on all sides, flipping as needed.
    • Wrap cooked chilis in aluminum foil to steam until cool enough to handle (5-10 minutes). This helps loosen the now-charred outer layer.
    • Peel off and discard charred layer. This can be aided under gentle stream of warm water.
    • Remove seeds and stem.
    • Chop resulting chili flesh and set aside
  • Tomatillos
    • Roast on grill (or in oven under broiler on a sheet pan) for 5-10 minutes, flipping a few times for even roasting.
    • Peel and remove charred skin.
    • Chop and set aside.
  • Corn
    • Roasted on grill (or in oven under broiler on a sheet pan) until kernels begin to darken a bit. You can add a *light* brushing of butter or olive oil if desired.
    • If using cobs, set aside until cool enough to handle and then cut kernels off cobs and set aside.
  • Carrots and Potatoes
    • Cut spoon-able sized chunks. Dry of excess moisture and then *lightly* brush with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired.
    • Roast in oven under broiler on a sheet pan for 5-10 minutes to develop a bit of color. Flip as needed.
    • Set aside.

• Prepping Pork
  • Cut pork into 1-2 inch chunks, removing excess fat, and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Add 2 TB of bacon grease (or vegetable oil) to preheated dutch oven over medium-high heat.
  • Add pork to pan in batches (do not crowd), turning until browned on all sides for 3-5 minutes per batch. Remove excess fluid between batches and add more bacon grease or oil if needed.
  • Set aside.

• Prepping Onion and spices
  • Chop onion.
  • Reduce dutch oven to medium heat. Do not clean out.
  • Add more bacon grease or oil if needed.
  • Add onion and cook until soft, 5-10 minutes.
  • Partway through onion cooking, make a clear spot in the middle and add minced garlic. After a minute stir all together.
  • Add cumin, oregano, and bay leaf. Stir and let cook for 1-2 minutes.
  • Add apple cider vinegar to deglaze pan and help scrape up all the tasty bits stuck to the pan surface

• Stewing
  • Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Continue scraping bits off pan surface if needed.
  • Reduce to a simmer, add reserved chilis, tomatillos, and pork, and cover with lid. Stew for 1 hour.
  • Add reserved potatoes, carrots, and corn. Stew for an additional 2-3 hours, or until pork is fall-apart tender.
  • Salt to taste near end of stewing

• Serving
  • Flavors and textures improve if left in refrigerator for 24 hours. I like to cook it the day before serving, simply reheating as needed the next day.
  • Serve with a dollop of sour cream if desired.
  • Pairs excellently with Fry Bread