Chile verde (basic green chile sauce)

8 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 tablespoons Vegetable oil or olive oil (up to)
½ small Onion; diced
1 Clove (large) garlic; minced
2 tablespoons Flour
¼ teaspoon Ground cumin
¼ teaspoon Black pepper
1½ cup Chicken or pork broth
1 cup Roasted; peeled green chiles (10-12 fresh New Mexico; Anaheim or California or Poblano chiles); -or-
8 ounces Canned green chiles (if you don't have fresh chiles)
¼ teaspoon Oregano
½ teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons (or more) chopped; canned or fresh Jalapenos; optional, if you want it hotter)
2 cups

Directions

Michael Bowers Internet: mikeb@...

Green chile (or chili), or chile verde can mean different things, and knowing one from another is a distinction that marks one as an insider (or _real_ chile-head!). The term applies to 1) the fresh green chiles picked before they turn red, 2) a paste made from roasted green chiles and garlic presented at the table to flavor 'frijoles' (= beans), 3) the thickened cooking sauce served over enchiladas, burritos, etc, 4) the same sauce with chunks of cooked pork (or other meat) served as a soup/stew or a sauce for bean burritos.

The following recipe is for the chile verde sauce (#3). It can also include tomatoes and/or tomatillos (now that we've discussed epazote and cilantro, how about tomatillos!?).

There are many versions; this is one that I like; I have others that use no oil, and ones that include other ingredients (see previous paragraph). Heat the oil in a 1-2 qt saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes to wilt the onions. Don't let them brown. Raise heat to medium, stir in flour, cumin and black pepper.

Cook, stirring about 2 min. When the onion/flour mix just begins to color, remove from heat and add broth, stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

Add rest of ingredients. Return pan to heat, bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat another 30 min. The finished sauce should not be too thick; dilute with more broth or water if needed. You can puree it if it's not smooth enough. Will keep in fridge for a week; heat before using. Makes An interesting variation is to add 3-4 diced chipotles (don't add the jalapenos in this case) with the green chiles. This gives a hot, smoky green chile sauce that goes great with plain bean burritos or cheese enchiladas; it will overwhelm more complex dishes.

CHILE-HEADS ARCHIVES

From the Chile-Heads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, .

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