Roasting Green Chiles for Chile Verde

Making fresh chile verde is a seasonal pleasure, and very simple once you get over the (perceived) hassle of roasting the chiles, especially if you follow contributor Jim Dixon's instructions below. If you get ambitious and decide to roast a bunch of chiles, just bag up the extras and throw 'em in the freezer for posole or enchiladas this winter!

Oregon Green Chile Sauce



Green chile invites controversy, even in its home state of New Mexico (or Colorado, but that's another can of worms). The simplest recipes combine the green chiles (usually roasted, but not always) with onion, cumin and oregano, and use a simple flour roux as a thickener. Some add tomatoes, tomatillos, potatoes or even canned enchilada sauce. Meat usually means pork, but some swear by chicken. And then there's the allegiance to Hatch chiles.





Pick a pepper. Roast it.

I won't claim my version is anything close to what you'll eat in New Mexico, but it tastes good. There are a lot of chiles grown here in Oregon, and you'll find them now at the farmers market and the better supermarket produce sections. You can usually find poblanos and anaheims if the seasonal New Mexican varieties aren't around. Anaheims are usually mild, but poblanos can vary, so try to taste them first.



Start by roasting the chiles. It takes extra time, but getting most of the waxy skin off really improves the final results. Thin-skinned green chiles are best roasted quickly, and a gas burner works well (I've also used a blow torch, and my very first published story about cooking was about roasting peppers with my old cross country ski waxing torch). If you don't have a gas stove, put them under the broiler, but either way, keep turning them until the chiles are blistered all over, then put them in a covered bowl or plastic bag to steam for a few minutes. Use your fingers to remove as much as of the skin as you can, but it's okay to leave some attached. You can do it under running water, although some claim this removes some of the flavor, too.



Roast several at a time.

Remove the stem and seed core (a few seeds won't hurt) and chop coarsely. Chop an onion and start cooking it in extra virgin olive oil. Add a half dozen chopped tomatillos (optional, but I like the bright acidity they add), then the chopped chiles. If you want a pork or chicken version, add a pound or so of either, cut into bite-sized pieces (shoulder for pork, thigh meat for chicken are my choices). Add some salt, a teaspoon or more of ground cumin and about the same amount of oregano. Keep it at a lively simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is done and the tomatillos have broken down.



Sprinkle in a few tablespoons of good cornmeal, preferably Ayers Creek, but that requires a stash in the freezer or a trip to the Hillsdale Farmers Market on a Sunday; for more info, e-mail Anthony Boutard to subscribe to the Ayers Creek newsletter. [You can also read his newsletters here at Good Stuff NW under Farm Bulletin. - KB] Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring frequently, for another 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Eat with a spoon, over scrambled eggs or on a cheeseburger.

Roast Peppers For Maximum Flavor

Whether you call them peppers, chilis or chiles, there is something magical about these fruits of the capsicum plant and, in my opinion, they are at their very best when roasted over an open flame. Jim Dixon of RealGoodFood explains how and what to do with them.

While it may be the end of summer everywhere else, ours runs through September (and into October if we’re really lucky). Sunny afternoons, cool evenings and a cornucopia of great produce. Especially peppers.

Now’s the time when the smell of peppers roasting wafts through the farmers' market or even the grocery store parking lot. You can usually buy roasted peppers, but it’s easy to do yourself. My first published food story was about roasting peppers, and back in the 1980s I did it with the propane torch I used for waxing my cross country skis (just knowing that skis were once waxed really dates me).

These days I usually roast peppers in the oven or over coals on the Weber. But a hot-burning torch has advantages, especially when you want to make something like chile rellenos. The hot torch (or even the gas flame on your stovetop) blisters the skins quickly and the pepper doesn’t cook as much as it does in the oven. The firm chiles hold their shape better for rellenos, but for chile verde it’s not so important.

Chile Verde

My version is inspired by the green chile ubiquitous in the American southwest, but I won’t claim it’s authentically anything except really tasty. Use mild chiles like Anaheims if you can’t take the heat; poblanos are usually a bit hotter, but always taste any chile first. It’s a good idea to wear gloves, and a note that you can see from your work area reminding you not to touch your eyes or other sensitive body parts isn’t a bad idea.

Roast several chiles (45 minutes in a 350 oven or hold with fork over a gas flame until the skin is blistered and blackened) or use pre-roasted chiles. Scrape most of the blackened outer skin off , but don’t worry if some is still clinging. Pull out the seed core and as much of the seeds as you can (run under cold water if you like). Chop them up coarsely.

Chop an onion and maybe a few garlic cloves; cook in extra virgin olive oil (or pork fat, or any other animal fat) for a few minutes. Sprinkle in a bit of ground cumin and a good pinch of oregano; add some salt. Stir in the chiles, sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of flour and cook for a few minutes. Add about a half cup of water, bring to a boil and let simmer for a few minutes more.

Serve over eggs, on a cheeseburger, alongside tamales or with almost anything.

Pork Option

Cut pork shoulder (country style “ribs”) into chunks. Brown a little, add water, and simmer for a couple of hours (add more water if necessary). When the pork is very tender, break it apart with a fork and add some chile verde. Serve over Koda Farms brown rice.

The "L" Word: Leftover Turkey in Posole

The first words out of Dave's mouth when I mention ordering the holiday turkey are, "Oboy! Turkey enchiladas!" That's because after we've reprised the meal the next day to use up the leftover gravy and mashed potatoes, as well as a couple of turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, there always seems to be enough for a batch of enchiladas.

I normally use my basic chile sauce, but I got to thinking that maybe a posole rojo would be a nice change, since I've always liked the way that chiles tend to mitigate the sometimes overbearing flavor that turkey can have. Plus the smokiness from the turkey meat (thanks to Dave's mad skills with the Weber) and the stock from the carcass would lend a woodsy, hearty flavor to the corn and chiles.

In the past I've made posole as a thick stew, but thanks to the incredible soup my friend Linda Colwell made with her verde version, I decided to try something like it with red chiles. It could also be made with chicken and chicken stock, but the turkey made it so much richer, and was so good we may just have to alternate it with the enchiladas from now on. Is that OK, honey?

Turkey Posole Rojo

12 oz. dried posole or hominy
6-8 dried ancho chiles
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. oregano
Salt to taste
4 c. leftover turkey, shredded
8 c. turkey or chicken stock
Juice of 1 lime

Put dried posole into non-reactive bowl or Dutch oven and cover with water. Soak overnight. Drain posole and put back in Dutch oven in enough salted water to cover. Bring to boil and simmer for at least 2 hours until softened.

Remove seeds, ribs and stems from chiles and tear into large pieces. Place in heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water. After half an hour, when chiles are soft and somewhat cooled, drain them, reserving the liquid. Put chiles, onion, oregano and garlic in bowl of food processor and process, adding reserved chile-soaking liquid to make it a thick sauce. Season to taste with salt.

Add meat, chile sauce and stock to cooked hominy in Dutch oven and stir to combine. Bring to a boil on the stove, lower heat and simmer, covered, for one hour. Add water if needed to thin to desired consistency. Stir in lime juice.

Photo of uncooked posole (hominy) from the James Beard Foundation.

The Basics: Chile Sauce

Garret Dillahunt is an actor I first noticed in the TV series "Deadwood." He played Jack McCall, the man who killed Buffalo Bill. He was also another minor, slightly crazed character named Francis Wolcott. In the same series.

Now, it took me a little while to recognize him in the second role, but eventually I got it. And now I see him all the time in character roles here and there. He's not shiny, but he does a workmanlike job in the parts he gets.

And that's an apt metaphor for the way I cook. I have basic recipes that appear over and over again, slightly tweaked for different uses, but staying pretty much the same from incarnation to incarnation.

For instance, the chile sauce recipe I used for turkey enchiladas after Thanksgiving made more than I needed for the recipe, so I froze the remainder for another use. It could have made another great pan of enchiladas when I had some leftover roast chicken. And it's fabulous for huevos rancheros, drizzled over the layered tortilla, black beans, cheese and egg. But when I found big hunks of chuck roast on sale at the store, all I had to do was mix the leftover sauce with some puréed tomatoes to make a wonderful braising sauce for a batch of chili.

That may have been the same night we saw Mr. Dillahunt in a rerun of NYPD Blue.

Beef Chili

I used to make chili with beans and meat, but in the last couple of years I've become a convert to the all-meat version. I serve it with bowls of warmed kidney beans and rice alongside, as well as some chopped raw onions and grated cheese.

For the sauce:
6 dried ancho chiles, seeded and torn into pieces
2 small hot red chiles, seeded and torn into pieces (optional)
3 1/2 c. boiling water
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
2 Tbsp. (6-8) garlic cloves
4 tsp. oregano
3 Tbsp. paprika (I use 1 Tbsp. smoked Spanish pimenton and 2 Tbsp. regular paprika)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 28-oz. can whole tomatoes, puréed

For the chili:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3-4 lbs. chuck roast, cut in 3/4" cubes
1/2 c. flour
Salt and pepper

Place the torn chiles in a heat-proof bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Soak for 30 min. until they are soft and pliable. Drain them, reserving the soaking water, and place them in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and 1/2 c. soaking liquid and process till smooth, gradually adding the rest of the soaking water. If you have a larger processor, add the pureed tomatoes or simply stir them together with the chile sauce in a large mixing bowl.

Add salt and pepper to the flour in a small mixing bowl. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium high heat. In batches, put the pieces of meat in the flour mixture to coat lightly, then brown them in the hot oil, making sure that the pieces are not crowded or they'll steam instead of browning. Remove to a plate and brown the next batch. When all the meat is browned, put it back in the Dutch oven with enough chile sauce to almost cover and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Freeze any leftover sauce for later.

Read more recipes in The Basics series: 20 Minute Tomato Sauce, House Vinaigrette, Caesar Salad and Strata.