Chili Verde

We love chili in our house, and I am not kidding when I say we make it at least once a month, eating it over the course of several days. Chili is just one of those comfort foods where it just warms you up on cold days and nights, and trust me, it is extremely cold in Wisconsin.

Growing up, I would watch my dad make his chili. He had it down to a science, and as my standard chili recipe probably does not steer to far from my dad’s recipe, there are just times you want to do something different to a chili, and that is what I love about it. So, as I often do, I think about what ingredients could offer the same comfort of a traditional chili, but make it different, and that is when I decided to make a green pork chili, or what others often refer to as chili verde.

The simple ingredients yield maximum flavors, and really make this chili comforting and extremely delicious.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of pork loin
• 5 tomatillos, wrapper removed, cut in half
• 1 small onion, halved
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeno peppers, halved
• 3 poblano peppers
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1/2 lime, zest only
• 1 cup of corn kernels
• 1 cup of pigeon peas, drained
• salt
• black pepper
• tortilla chips (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Begin by taking one tablespoon of your olive oil and coat your pork tenderloin. Generously season your pork with salt and pepper. Place the pork onto a baking dish and place into the oven for about one hour and 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, and let it rest.

Now, increase your oven temperature to 450 degrees. Take your tomatillos, poblano, onion, and jalapeno peppers, and coat with the additional tablespoon of olive oil. Place on a lined baking sheet and put it into the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes or until you have a nice char on the vegetables. Remove after you have charred the vegetables and let them cool.

Remove the outer skin from the poblanos, and slice open to remove all of the seeds. Remove the stems from both the jalapeno and poblano peppers.  If you want less heat, remove the seeds from the jalapeno peppers, otherwise leave them in.

Place the onion, peppers, tomatillos, honey, zest, and garlic into a blender or food processor. Add about 1 cup of the stock to the blender, then pulse everything down until you have a green sauce. You want to remove all of the chunks.

Add this to your soup pot and add in the additional chicken stock. Toss in the corn and pigeon peas. Bring to a boil. During this time, take your pork loin and cut it into bite sized pieces, placing those in the pot. Give a good stir, cover, and reduce the heat, cooking for about 10 minutes or until everything is cooked through.

When you are ready to serve, add a bit of tortilla chips to the bottom of a soup bowl, ladle in the chili verde, and top with a dollop of sour cream.

What you end up with is a delicious bowl of chili, packed with just the right amount of heat, and great texture from the corn and pigeon peas.