Kim’s Simple Recipes

• 4 cups chopped roasted New Mexico (big Jims) or Hatch chiles – skins and seeds removed
• 3 lbs cubed pork shoulder (ask butcher to cube it (1 inch/small cubes) and to give you the bone from the shoulder
• 3 Tbsp – Masa Flour
• 2 Tbsp – Oil
• 1 large yellow onion – chopped
• 2 Tbsp – butter
• 32 oz – Chicken stock
• 4 Yukon Gold potatoes – 1/4 inch cubes
• 3 Carrots, cut cross-wise into small chunks (optional)
• 2 Ears of Corn (Kernels), roasted on the grill (optional)
• 2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped (optional)
• 2-3 cans of pinto beans (optional)
• 8+ cloves of garlic – chopped
• 2 Tbsp – Fresh chopped Oregano
• 1 Tbsp – Fresh chopped Thyme
• 1 tsp – Cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground
• Salt/Pepper
• 2 Additional Tbsp – Masa (if needed to thicken)
• 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro (or more!)

Method:• Dredge pork cubes in Masa Flour in plastic bag until all pieces are coated.
• Brown in oil in large Dutch oven or pot – set aside
• Add butter to same pan, lightly cook onion until slightly colored (not browned) – then add garlic cook 1-2 minutes until aromatic.
• Add 1 tsp of masa and a small amount of chicken stock to browned bottom of pot/dutch oven – as stock heats up, scrape browned bits off of the pan to create a roux. After all bits are scraped, add remaining stock to pan
• Add remaining ingredients to same pan (except green chiles and added Masa). Bring to slow boil, then cover, reduce to simmer for about 30 minutes… then add green chiles and cook until pork is tender – a little over an hour is usually good – too long and the meat will toughen. Make sure it NEVER BOILS as it will cook too fast. Sometimes I turn the stove off after about 40 minutes to make sure it cooks slowly.
• Add salt/pepper to taste
• After 45 minutes, check consistency – if it needs to be thicker slowly add a small amount of Masa at a time and stir until thick – shouldn’t be more than 2 Tbsp. The chiles will breakdown into the roux while cooking. Taste for heat – if you like it spicy, add a couple of diced serrano chiles. Garnish with sour cream and cilantro. Serve with corn bread or homemade tortillas… and several Tecate’s or margaritas!!

Important tips – Do not add beer like other recipes suggest – it will dilute the flavor. NEVER use canned chiles.. they have no flavor. New Mexican chiles are the best – you can buy them online already roasted and peeled. Otherwise use fresh Anaheims and roast on the grill lightly until the skins blacken, they place in brown paper bag to steam the skins off. Organic chicken stock is fine – I wouldn’t use low sodium… the best is homemade stock.  Roasted corn right off the cob is also an excellent addition to this chile.  You could also use chicken with this recipe.  Brined chicken in a salt/sugar bath would be good.

www.newmexicanconnection.com – great online source for frozen roasted chilis if you can’t get them locally

CROCK-POT/SLOW COOKER METHOD:

Prepare same as above… but either transfer the roux from a skillet to your slow cooker or do the same method in your slow cooker insert if it is safe to use on the stove top. Sear pork bone in skillet PRIOR to browning pork cubes.  Place bone in the slow cooker.  Add all ingredients except corn and beans.  Set to cook on low for 5 hours.  Add corn and beans and cook another hour or two (check tenderness of pork – should be very tender).  Add cilantro to cooker 20 minutes before serving.  This isn’t an exact recipe and every batch will turn out differently.  Add to get the right balance of ingredients and make it up as you go along.  Using the slow cooker is my favorite way to make this as the pork gets very, very tender.