Chile Verde With Chicken

Chile Verde With Chicken( you can definitely use pork)...I love Mexican food and I like spicy foods. I'll take chips and salsa over dessert any day...but that's just me. I especially like salsas that have a smoky/grilled flavor...like spicy chipotle, salsa verde, etc. So, when I saw this recipe for Chile Verde on Simply Recipes , I knew I would make it. I bookmarked it... and like so many other bookmarked recipes, it sort of got forgotten. Well, not exactly forgotten. I remembered recently.... So I picked up some poblanos and tomatillos along with some cilantro.... and got to work. Since I was going to grill the vegetables, I bought a few more poblano chiles. I could freeze some of the grilled poblanos for later.... to use in salsas or other dishes.

This recipe can easily be tailored to fit your taste. Make it a bit more spicy or not so spicy. The original recipe doesn't ask for poblanos. But I knew that I wanted to use them. It's amazing how some freshly roasted poblano chiles can impart such wonderful flavors to a dish. Traditionally, the chile verde is made with pork. I chose to use chicken...maybe you should use pork? I do believe it would taste much better with pork:). I think you can even make the sauce without the meat... sort of like a green salsa/sauce. You probably wouldn't need to cook it that long. I love to combine some of the chile verde with rice and fresh homemade flour tortillas or corn tortillas. I'll even make burritos with it. I just add some beans to some of the chile verde and combine it. I'll then add some chile verde sauce(without the meat) on top of the burritos with a sprinkling of cheese. When you heat it up, the cheese and sauce combine...it's a burrito like no other. So full of flavor. I wished I would have taken a picture of the burrito...

Anyway, this is my adaptation of the recipe I saw on Simply Recipes ....with a few changes. Feel free to make your own version. Hope you enjoy...

Broil or Grill: inspired by Simply Recipes

1 1/2 pounds tomatillos( or about 10)

5 garlic cloves, unpeeled( I didn't roast my garlic and used 2 raw instead)

3 Poblano chiles( or substitute 1-2 green chile cans)

Blend with:

2 jalapenos(red or green), seeds and ribs removed, chopped

1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped

Season and Brown:

2-3 pounds chicken thigh(or pork); cut into 1 or 2-inch cubes

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

Cook:

reserved oil

2 yellow onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 TBS dried oregano

2 1/2 cups chicken stock( I used homemade)

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp chipotle powder or to taste

Directions:

Remove husks from tomatillos. Rinse.

You can :

1)Broil the tomatillos in the oven by cutting them in half and placing them on a lined sheet pan. Add 5 unpeeled garlic cloves to the pan as well. Broil for about 5-7 minutes to lightly blacken the skin. Remove from oven, let cool enough to handle.

or

2)You can also grill the tomatillos(whole) along with the poblano chiles(if using) until the skins are blackened. The tomatillos might take less time than the poblanos. Do check on them and remove them earlier if need be. I grilled mine...I love the grilled flavor, but didn't roast the garlic. I just used 2-3 fresh garlic cloves instead of the 5 roasted cloves.

Remove the tomatillos on a plate to cool. Remove the poblano chiles and place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap(or place them in a Ziploc bag and close it). Let cool and peel the skin off. Remove the stem and seeds. Chop roughly.

Place tomatillos(with the skin) into blender. Add roasted garlic( I didn't roast mine and left them fresh). Add chopped Jalapeño peppers, poblano chilies (green chiles from the can), and cilantro to the blender. Pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.

Season the chicken cubes with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat and brown chicken on all sides. Work in batches so as not to crowd the chicken in the pan. Remove and place in bowl. Set aside.

Pour off any excess fat, except 1 tablespoon, and place the onions and garlic in the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5-7 minutes. You can cook the entire batch of chile verde in the skillet if it is large enough, otherwise use a soup pot. Add the browned chicken to the pan. Add the tomatillo chile verde sauce. Add the chicken stock or enough to cover the meat. Add seasonings.

Bring to a boil and reduce to a slight simmer. Cook uncovered for 1 hour( or until desired thickness and meat is cooked through). If using pork, you might want to cook it longer, maybe 2-3 hours. I used my pressure cooker and cooked it for about 30 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice, with tortillas or use as a mixture for burritos by adding some refried beans/rice.