We went to Santa Fe this summer for the first time to attend a friend’s wedding and had my first introduction to green chiles. I’m not a huge fan of spicy foods, but I had to try while I was there.
The Shed was our first stop and the small bowl of green chile stew they served us had me hooked immediately! I loved the flavors that lingered after the burn – smoky, meaty, peppery. And so for the rest of my stay I tried everything with green chile on it! On my eggs and enchiladas, in stews, on steak. MMM! I couldn’t get enough!
So now I’m home in Texas, dreaming of green chile stew. Luckily, this month marks the beginning of Hatch Chile season and those delicious New Mexico green chiles are all over the place! I got some at Whole Foods for 30 cents a pound and got to roasting.
I found that roasting over my gas burner was the best way to get that nice char. Broiling in the oven was ok, but I noticed it was harder to get the skin to separate from the meat of the chile. I also tried steaming the chiles after roasting in a paper or plastic bag and found either was fine. Running the chiles under water to remove the skin made it easier.
Once those babies were roasted, I put together this recipe in my trusty slow cooker and ended up with a nice spicy trip back to Santa Fe on my plate!
Seared Pork, Roasted Green Chiles & Tomatoes ready to go!
I also took the sauce generated by the pork to make semi-vegetarian dish in the pic above. Just sauteed some chickpeas, diced tomatoes and added some sauce and a little extra cumin. Tossed in spinach & basil near the end. Was very tasty!
- 2 cups of roasted Hatch green chiles
- 3 lbs boneless pork chops
- 1.5 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
- 1 cup diced onions
- .5 cup chicken broth
- 1 TB cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt, pepper, flour
- Cut the pork chops into cubes.
- Season with salt/pepper. Sprinkle with just a tiny bit of flour.
- Heat a pan with some olive oil and brown the pork on one side. Flip over and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and place in slow cooker.
- Slice the roasted green chiles into rounds, deseeding all but 2, and place in slow cooker. (You can keep more seeds if you like more spicy, but this was just enough kick for me!)
- Dice the onions & place in slow cooker
- Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, cumin, garlic powder, ½ tsp of salt, dash of black pepper. Stir to cover.
- Cook on low for 8 hours, high for 4 hours.
- Serve over rice or quinoa.