Colorado Green Chili

From Cook's Country | October/November 2013

Why this recipe works:

Unlike Texas chili, this Colorado dish is based on pork and lots of green Hatch chiles. Since you have to mail-order real Hatch chiles, we approximate the flavor with Anaheims and jalapeños. Halving the Anaheims before roasting means no tedious flipping, and pureeing half of the chiles (along with a can of diced tomatoes) while chopping the other half by hand creates texture. Pork butt is rich and meaty, and starting it in a covered pan with water until the fat renders lets us brown it all in one batch. Using the oven to cook the chili provides gentle heat—and hands-off cooking—and finishing the stew with the chopped, roasted jalapeños adds a fresh hit of heat.
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Colorado Green Chili

More than 2 pounds of chiles go into this mildly spicy stew, making it as much about the green chile peppers as the pork. Watch the Video

Serves 6

The chiles can be roasted and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds boneless pork butt roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt
• 2 pounds (10 to 12) Anaheim chiles, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded
• 3 jalapeño chiles
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 onions, chopped fine
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Cayenne pepper
• Lime wedges

Instructions

1. 1. Combine pork, ½ cup water, and ½ teaspoon salt in Dutch oven over medium heat. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until liquid evaporates and pork browns in its own fat, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer pork to bowl and set aside.
   
   2. Meanwhile, adjust 1 oven rack to lowest position and second rack 6 inches from broiler element. Heat broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil spray. Arrange Anaheims, skin side up, and jalapeños in single layer on prepared sheet. Place sheet on upper rack and broil until chiles are mostly blackened and soft, 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheet and flipping only jalapeños halfway through broiling. Place Anaheims in large bowl and cover with plastic wrap; let cool for 5 minutes. Set aside jalapeños. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
   
   3. Remove skins from Anaheims. Chop half of Anaheims into ½-inch pieces and transfer to bowl. Process remaining Anaheims in food processor until smooth, about 10 seconds; transfer to bowl with chopped Anaheims. Pulse tomatoes and their juice in now-empty food processor until coarsely ground, about 4 pulses.
   
   4. Heat oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and cumin and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in broth, Anaheims, tomatoes, and pork with any accumulated juices and bring to simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Cover pot, transfer to lower oven rack, and cook until pork is tender, 1 to 1¼ hours.
   
   5. Without peeling, stem and seed jalapeños and reserve seeds. Finely chop jalapeños and stir into chili. Season chili with salt, cayenne, and reserved jalapeño seeds to taste. Serve with lime wedges.
   

Test Kitchen Technique: Easier Roasted Chiles

Roasting chiles whole and then seeding them—the usual procedure—makes a mess: The wet seeds stick to everything. We halve and seed the raw Anaheims. It’s neater and lets us skip the usual flipping step. We leave the jalapeños whole; they soften but don’t deeply roast.

READY FOR ROASTING: Arrange the chiles head to foot for the best fit.