Pork Hatch Chili

I love green chili. It's comfort food for me. The spicy, savory broth. The hunks of juicy pork. Mmmmmm. So a few months ago I thought I would cook up a batch. I checked my usual spots (Bon Appetit, Food Network, Google) and found that most of the recipes out there were worthless. How did I know that? Not sure, but I knew I wasn't getting excited about any of them. So I did the next logical thing and posted a request on Facebook. I ended up getting a great recipe from a fellow foodie (thanks Justin!) and tweaked it just a bit for my own tastes.

The recipe is below, but here are a few thoughts first:

-- Green chili is all about personal preference, so use whatever chilis you like.

-- My version would probably be considered "medium" heat for most people, so adjust accordingly.

-- I've made this twice now and there's a HUGE difference between using the skin from the roasted chilis and peeling all the skin off and only using the "meat" of the chili. If you like a really rich chili, use all the skins. If you like a more approachable  chili, use just the meat. Either way, it will have lots of flavor.

-- This last time I used the frozen bag of roasted/peeled/seeded mild green hatch chilis from Costco and they worked well, but would probably want more roasted skin next time. Hey, what are you gonna do in the middle of winter?!

Pork Hatch Chili – Courtesy of Drew Schneider (Grubology.com)

1 pork shoulder (~3 lbs)

• Poke holes in it. Rub with olive oil and BBQ rub

• Wrap in plastic and let sit overnight

10 tomatillos

7 Roma tomatoes

3 jalapenos

Roasted hatch chilies (I used 2 lbs Big Jim medium)

2 medium onions, diced

5-6 cloves crushed garlic

3-4 Tbs butter

AP flour

2 Quarts stock

4 Anaheim chilies

Fish sauce

Cumin

Coriander

Chili powder

1. Smoke the pork shoulder ~2.5-3 hours at ~220 degrees on the Egg.

2. Braise the pork ~1.5-2 hours in the stock

3. Meanwhile, roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, jalapenos and Anaheims on the Egg. Remove most of the skin and seeds. Puree, along with the hatch chilies.

4. Lightly caramelize the onions and garlic in olive oil.

5. Remove onions and garlic. Melt butter and add flour to make roux.

6. Add braising liquid and pureed veggies.

7. Cut up the pork and add to pot, along with additional stock, if needed

8. Add additional premade roux, if necessary, to thicken.

9. Add seasonings as needed.

10. Add 8-10 drops of fish sauce and then season with salt (if necessary) and pepper.