The Cook’s Kitchen

In the United states, we celebrate just about anything and everything.  In preparation for one of this months’ articles, I was looking over a few things that are celebrated in October.

• Nationwide, October is Toilet Tank Repair Month.
• National Chestnut Week is October 8th through the 14th.
• And all day long on October 20th, Wewoka, Oklahoma hosts the Sorghum Day Festival.

The first choice is definitely out. Chestnuts and Sorghum have some possibilities.  This is after all, The Cook’s Kitchen.  But honestly, neither one was a good fit for this writer, so the search was back on.  The answer was right there all along ….. October is National Chili Month.  Man, I can get behind that one.  Maybe you read my article in August, Are You a Chilehead????.  Well I am, and so is my wife.  We are actually Chiliheads too, enjoying both red and green varieties.  If you have never tried green chili, it’s a wonderful combination of flavors.  Here is my favorite recipe.

My wife developed this recipe 15 years or 20 years ago and over the years, it has undergone several revisions. This chili has won numerous local chili contests and placed either first or second at several regional contests. The recipe is very simple, but still allows for changes to suit to your individual tastes. We like to grind our own pork butt and feel that the key to the success of this chili is roasting the ground pork with the spices on top. Most other recipes just add the spices to the stock pot. Many contest cooks use one or more “dumps” of spices during the cook, but we have found that it is not necessary with this recipe. 

Green Chili:

• 5 Lbs. ground pork butt - coarse grind. HINT: Remove most of the fat cap and large pieces of internal fat before grinding to prevent excessive greasiness. 
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. salt 
• 2 Tbsp. black pepper 
• 1 Tbsp. garlic salt 
• 1-1/2 Tsp. cumin 
• 1-1/2 bunch green onion, finely chopped in food processor 
• 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped in food processor 
• 16 Tomatillos, pureed in food processor 
• 6 roasted (see notes below) Poblanos, peeled and chopped in food processor 
• 15 roasted Anaheim peppers, peeled and chopped in food processor 
• 4 to 24 fresh Serrano chilies, chopped in food processor. TIP: The Serrano’s control the heat in this chile. With fresh chilies, the heat factor will vary from crop to crop. For less “heat” reduce only the number of Serrano chilies. 6 to 10 chilies would give this chili a “mild” heat rating, 20 to 24 chilies will give this chili an “ooh-wee baby” rating. If in doubt, it’s better to start off with less. It’s better to have great flavor than all heat. 
• 3 Tbsp. Chopped garlic 
• 64 oz can chicken broth 

Roux: 

• 2 Cups cold water 
• 1 cup flour 

Slowly mix the water and flour together to avoid clumping. This will serve as a thickener and will be used toward the end of the cook. 

Cooking Method: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place an even layer of ground pork in a roasting pan and sprinkle the top with all of the dry spices. Do not mix the spices into the pork.

Roast (without turning) for about 45 minutes. After roasting, the pork on the edge of the pan will be done, but the center will NOT be completely cooked.  The bark that forms on top of the ground pork is key to the flavor of this chili. 

Place all of the meat and drippings into a large stockpot and break up with a fork. Add all other ingredients except Roux. Add enough water to desired thickness. Add more water, if needed, as chili cooks. Cook for 2-3 hrs on low or until chilies have achieved desired doneness. Thicken with Roux to the desired consistency. Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes or until flour “taste” has cooked away and blended. 

NOTES: 

If you like stew-like green chili, an option is to add some cubes of par boiled potatoes and some coarse chopped sweet onions toward the end of the cook. 

To roast chilies: Place fresh chilies on BBQ (medium heat) or in oven at 375 degrees and roast until the skin is blistered and charred.  Put peppers in a paper grocery bag, keep the top closed to steam the skins loose. Rinse under kitchen faucet to remove skin and seeds. TIP: The chilies can be roasted, steamed and frozen in plastic bags with the skins still on, to keep a full year. Put the amount needed for each batch is a single bag, defrost and rinse away skin and seeds.

This recipe appears on my cookin’ site and in typical how-to fashion, has a lot of photographs.  Click Here  if you want to check them out. 

Photo Credits - Bowl of Green Chili  by Author