Chile verde with nopales
 

I tried making this dish on Saturday. It features chunks of pork in a
tomatillo sauce which is spiced up a bit by a jalapeno chile and it
has crunchy pieces of fresh green poblano chiles and cactus chunks.

The cactus and green chiles are cooked for a shorter time than the
sauce and pork, but I found that simmering the chiles for only ten
minutes left them tasting too raw.

I only had three fresh poblanos, but I had four dried anchos that I
used in the tomatillo sauce. Maybe I should have left the seeded and
de-veined jalapeno chile out?

The result wasn't fiery hot, but it was spicy enough that I steamed a
pound white rice to mix with the chile verde.

Ingredients

Tomatillo Sauce
2 Poblano chiles
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 tablespoon Onion - chopped (medium)
2 Garlic cloves - minced
1 lb Tomatillos - husked, rinsed
1 Jalapeño - stem removed
3 x Cilantro - chopped
3 Epazote sprigs - stemmed
1 teaspoon Dried Mexican oregano
1 1/4 cups Chicken stock

Pork and Nopales
1 lb Trimmed pork shoulder - cut 1" cubes
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 lb Nopales (cactus paddles)
4 Poblano chiles
Tomatillo Sauce - (listed above)
Salt - to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper - to taste

Recipe Instructions
For the Tomatillo Sauce: Roast, peel, and seed poblano chiles; tear
into large strips.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook
just until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatillos, poblanos,
jalapeño, cilantro, epazote leaves, oregano and chicken stock and
simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat. Cool it
slightly, then puree it in a blender.

For the Pork And Nopales: Trim pork shoulder and cut meat into 1-inch
cubes. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the pork and sear until
lightly browned. Add 2 cups water and the salt and simmer until the
pork is tender, about 30 minutes. The liquid will reduce to a few
tablespoons. Remove from heat and set aside.

Trim and peel nopales; cut into 1- by 1/2-inch pieces. In a separate
saucepan, bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Add the nopales and simmer
for 10 minutes. Remove the nopales from the heat, drain and rinse with
cold water.

Roast poblano chiles; peel, seed, and cut in 1- by 1/2-inch pieces.
Combine the nopales and the poblano pieces and set aside.

Add the tomatillo sauce and the nopales mixture to the pan with the
seared pork. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe theoretically yields 4 servings, but with the added rice,
it goes a lot further.

Chile verde with nopales
 

"~" > wrote in message
...
I tried making this dish on Saturday. It features chunks of pork in a
tomatillo sauce which is spiced up a bit by a jalapeno chile and it
has crunchy pieces of fresh green poblano chiles and cactus chunks.

The cactus and green chiles are cooked for a shorter time than the
sauce and pork, but I found that simmering the chiles for only ten
minutes left them tasting too raw.

I only had three fresh poblanos, but I had four dried anchos that I
used in the tomatillo sauce. Maybe I should have left the seeded and
de-veined jalapeno chile out?

The result wasn't fiery hot, but it was spicy enough that I steamed a
pound white rice to mix with the chile verde.

Ingredients

Tomatillo Sauce
2 Poblano chiles
2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 tablespoon Onion - chopped (medium)
2 Garlic cloves - minced
1 lb Tomatillos - husked, rinsed
1 Jalapeño - stem removed
3 x Cilantro - chopped
3 Epazote sprigs - stemmed
1 teaspoon Dried Mexican oregano
1 1/4 cups Chicken stock

Pork and Nopales
1 lb Trimmed pork shoulder - cut 1" cubes
1 tablespoon Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 lb Nopales (cactus paddles)
4 Poblano chiles
Tomatillo Sauce - (listed above)
Salt - to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper - to taste

Recipe Instructions
For the Tomatillo Sauce: Roast, peel, and seed poblano chiles; tear
into large strips.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook
just until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatillos, poblanos,
jalapeño, cilantro, epazote leaves, oregano and chicken stock and
simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat. Cool it
slightly, then puree it in a blender.

For the Pork And Nopales: Trim pork shoulder and cut meat into 1-inch
cubes. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the pork and sear until
lightly browned. Add 2 cups water and the salt and simmer until the
pork is tender, about 30 minutes. The liquid will reduce to a few
tablespoons. Remove from heat and set aside.

Trim and peel nopales; cut into 1- by 1/2-inch pieces. In a separate
saucepan, bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Add the nopales and simmer
for 10 minutes. Remove the nopales from the heat, drain and rinse with
cold water.

Roast poblano chiles; peel, seed, and cut in 1- by 1/2-inch pieces.
Combine the nopales and the poblano pieces and set aside.

Add the tomatillo sauce and the nopales mixture to the pan with the
seared pork. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

This recipe theoretically yields 4 servings, but with the added rice,
it goes a lot further.

-------

This is one of our favorites. Only we serve it with red fried rice and beans
on the side along with a stack of steaming corn tortillas since the 'rajas'
make the best tacos ever!

I cut the pork shoulder into smaller pieces to make rolling the tacos
easier. Sometimes we leave out nopalitos and use mushrooms instead, called
'rajas con hongos'. A true delight.

Wayne