Easy/Beginner: Chile Verde aka "Colorado Green Chile"Recipe

Pueblo, Colorado is known around the world for it’s green chile. After the chile harvest, we fill our freezers with locally-grown chiles meant to last the whole year. One of my favorite recipes using this special chile is “Chile Verde” or what is known as Colorado green chile. No matter where you are in the US, you can probably find chopped, roasted green chile in your grocer’s freezer section or in cans in the Latin food section.

If you’ve ever web-searched “how smothered burritos get that way” you’ll love my family’s recipe for Colorado Green Chile. Check out more uses & serving suggestions for Colorado Green Chile down below!

Here is the recipe:
1 cup chopped, roasted green chile
1 lb diced pork for stew
1 tbs flour
2 cloves of garlic
12 oz diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
1/2 half yellow onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cups water or chicken stock
Optional: Salt to Taste

STEP ONE: Pour your chunks of pork into a mixing bowl. Lightly salt raw pork. Stir to coat the pork evenly with the salt Method: Sprinkle, stir, sprinkle

STEP TWO: In small amounts, sprinkle flour onto the pork in the bowl. Use your fingertips to sprinkle the pork with flour. Stir to coat the pork evenly with the flour. Method: Sprinkle, stir, sprinkle

STEP THREE: Break off 2-3 pieces of garlic and peel the papery skin from garlic. Chop the garlic into medium-sized bits. Set aside. (Make sure to use two small “leaves” or cloves of garlic rather than two full heads of garlic)

STEP FOUR: Pour 2 tablespoons of veggie oil into a frying pan or steel stew pot. Heat the oil.

New at cooking? Conduct a quick web search for tutorial on checking the readiness of cooking oil in the pan. Oil should be medium-hot.

You can cook the meat in a frying pan or you can use the bottom of the stewpot to cook the meat. Cooking in the pot eliminates one step (transferring the meat from the fry pan into the pot) and saves you from washing the fry pan.

Cook the meat to a golden brown, about 5-7 minutes on medium-high heat.

Advanced: After cooking the meat, use 2 tablespoons of chicken stock to “deglaze” the pan/pot used to cook the meat. Add this tasty dash of flavor to your chile during step number

Notes: Don’t worry if the meat is not cooked fully after your timer goes off. The pork will finish cooking when you boil your ingredients together in a later step. This “searing” meat in the pan method makes the meat tender on the inside and brown and crispy on the outside.

Although tempting, you probably don’t want to taste the meat at this step. Never eat raw pork.

STEP FIVE: Combine diced tomatoes, green chile, onions, and one cup of water (or chicken stock) in the stewpot. Bring to a boil.
You are almost ready to add the meat!

STEP SIX: Add the meat and boil all of the ingredients for 7 minutes. Reduce heat. Add the rest of the liquid (water or chicken stock), cover, simmer 15 minutes. Check water level.
For thick stew, use less water. To yield more servings, slightly increase water level.

STEP SEVEN: TASTE YOUR FOOD. This may be the most important of all steps. Tasting your food assures quality & taste but it also reinforces your learning.

Serve immediately or cool, store and allow flavors to blend in the fridge overnight.

Serving suggestions:

Use as a burrito topping, serve with bread or tortillas as a stew, or smother on top of eggs for huevos rancheros.