New Mexican Roasted Green Chile and Pork Stew

From John Soss

A Soup & Bread newbie, John dished up this, his signature savory stew, on February 22. With the recipe, he provides the following strategies for chile management. “The amount to use in this stew is based on (1) the heat quotient of the chiles and (2) how much heat people really like to withstand in a meal. I have some friends who like it really hot, but in many cases I’ve overdone it for guests who can’t handle it. So my suggestion is to start with just a half cup of the canned chiles (or whatever you can get online) and then resort to a taste test when the stew is completed. You can always add a bit more, but you can’t take out the heat if you overdo it.”

Ingredients
2 pounds pork shoulder
2 pounds lard or shortening

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 large yellow onions – chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup Hatch chiles (see note below*)
3 cans “fire roasted ” diced tomatoes
3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 quarts vegetable broth
8 cups water
salt and pepper

Preparation
Trim excess fat from pork and cut into half-inch cubes; season with sea salt and fresh black pepper.

Set an iron skillet over medium-high and melt lard or shortening in the pan.

Sear all sides of the pork cubes, for just a few minutes. Don’t “cook” them — do it in small batches so that there is only enough pork in the pan to cover the bottom. If needed, add more lard as you sear each batch.

Place pork into slow cooker for about two hours and pour in just enough water to keep the pork moist – just don’t cover the top of the pile of meat. You want the pork to be moist enough so that, after two hours or so, the cubes easily break apart. You can shred the meat, but I prefer having chunks in the final stew.

When the pork is ready, turn off heat in slow cooker and keep covered.

Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a heavy pot (this pot should be big enough to handle all of the stew).

Add chopped onions and garlic; cook until translucent. Be patient — you don’t want to end up with uncooked crunchy onions floating on the surface of the final stew. Add in the Hatch chiles (be careful how much!). Regarding the canned diced tomatoes: I like to chop them up before adding them into the pot, but retain all of the good liquid in the cans. Stir. Add broth and water.

Peel potatoes, cut into small quarter-inch cubes, and drop raw into the stew.

Add pork, including whatever liquid is in the slow cooker.

Heat to boiling; stir, then reduce heat to low or simmer and cook for an hour or so, until the potatoes are softened.

Adjust quantities of chiles to suit whatever heat index you prefer.
If you like a thicker stew, add in a thickening agent, like a corn starch slurry.

Only use salt and pepper to season. Otherwise you want all of the flavor to come from the chiles.

* Regarding the chiles: I buy them by bulk in the late summer harvest, then roast, peel, and de-vein each one. Since I don’t know anyone else who would be as obsessive as me about this, there are easier options. Whole Foods carries canned Hatch chiles, though these are milder than the ones I use. Better choice is to order online from Hatch.

Posted: Saturday Mar 10,2012 12:41 PM In Soup Recipes