Chile verde with potatoes

For years on Christmas Eve, if I didn't have to work, I have cooked some sort of fish dish.
I am not sure why that is. It is just something I have done.
Maybe because I know on Christmas Day I will get meat, meat and more meat.

But this year I was craving chile of some sort.

Instead of my usual tomato-based bean chile with ground beef, I decided on a chile verde: pork cooked in a green sauce of roasted tomatillos and peppers. I added the potatoes to bulk it up and because that is how my dad liked to make it.

It was an excellent choice and was even better as leftovers once the flavors had time to really meld. It also freezes well. I did several single serving portions in zipper bags that I can pull out of the freezer as needed.

Chile verde with potatoes

4 pounds pork, trimmed of fat and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
flour for dredging
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 white onions, diced

2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles
2-3 jalapenos
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
about 1 cup cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped (I like cilantro, so I had more and added it to taste)
4 cups chicken stock

2-3 large russet potatoes

Garnish with:

extra chopped cilantro

grated cheese (I used queso blanco)

lime wedges if you like that sort of thing

Serve with:

your favorite tortillas and/or rice

Pork shoulder works well in this. I could not find that this time, so I used a boneless pork roast and cut it into cubes.

Remove outer husks from tomatillos. Wash and dry tomatillos and peppers.

Place tomatillos and peppers on a baking sheet and broil, turning every few minutes, until they are roasted on all sides and skin starts to bubble and split. Let cool and set aside.

Season pork cubes with salt and pepper then dredge with flour.

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat.

Brown pork in small batches, on all sides.

As batches of pork are done, transfer from skillet with slotted spoon into a large stock pot.

Continue until all the pork is cooked and in the stock pot. You may need to add a little oil to the skillet depending on how many batches you have to cook.

While the pork is cooking, dice the tomatillos and set aside in a bowl with the juices.

Dice Anaheim/Poblano peppers and set aside.

Also cut jalapenos in half, discard seeds and ribs, then mince, add to set aside Anaheim/Poblanos. (I wear plastic gloves when dealing with chiles, even when they are cooked. Just to be safe. That chile residue stays on the hands a while and can burn, especially if you touch your eyes.)

Once the pork is all cooked and in stock pot, add onions to the skillet and cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

Add peppers and cook 3-4 minutes, then add garlic and cook 1-2 minutes.

Transfer the onions and peppers to the stock pot with the meat.

Add chopped tomatillos, dried herbs and cilantro to the meat.

Pour in chicken stock just to cover the meat.

Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to a simmer.

Cook for about 2 hours uncovered or until the pork is fork tender.

When pork has been cooking for about 2 hours, peel potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes.

Add potatoes to the pork and cook another 30-45 minutes or until potato pieces are tender.
Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Garnish with cilantro, cheese, etc. Enjoy.