Chile Verde de Puerco

Green chiles and tomatillos simmer with pork cubes for a classic Mexican stew. This deeply-flavored chile stew is typically served over potatoes or rice. Accompany with warm corn or flour tortillas and plenty of iced tea.

Recipe Ingredients:

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or country-style ribs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
4 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons vegetable oil - divided use
2 large onions, diced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
2 pounds tomatillos, husked, cored and quartered
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 cinnamon stick
1 (12-ounce) can beer
1 (14.5-ounce) can chicken broth
6 poblano chiles, halved, seeded, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick strips
2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons grated orange zest

Cooking Directions:

1. Season pork with salt and pepper; dust with flour.
2. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven, brown pork in batches, transferring pork to bowl when browned.
3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in pot. Add onion, sauté 3 to 4 minutes, until soft, stir in garlic and sauté one minute more. Add tomatillos, cumin, oregano, cinnamon and pork. Add beer and broth; bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, partially covered, 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
4. Add chiles and yellow pepper, simmer partially covered for 30 to 45 minutes more, until chiles are tender. Discard cinnamon stick. Stir in cilantro and orange zest.

Makes 8 servings.

Recipe and photograph provided courtesy of National Pork Board.