Chile Verde

Years ago, a neighbor brought over a big container of chile verde because he made more than his family could eat. I love when neighbors bring food! It was full of flavor and I savored every bite. At that time, I wasn't doing much cooking so I didn't even bother asking for the recipe. The extent of my cooking consisted of three to four ingredients with a five-ingredient recipe being "extreme cooking" for me. LOL! My cooking has definitely improved! :)

While I was recovering from a tonsillectomy, I was pinning tons of recipes from pinterest. I was drooling over each recipe since I was unable to eat any of it. Now that my throat is fully recovered, I've been diving into some of those recipes. Chile Verde is a dish I love to order at Mexican restaurants. I love wet chile verde burritos or chile verde on its own with a tortilla on the side. YUM! 

I've never made chile verde so I don't know if this is an "authentic" recipe but what I do know is that I liked my version. I liked it a lot! I invited my Mom and sister over for dinner and they enjoyed it, too. The pork was fork tender and fell apart as I cut into my wet chile verde burrito. I ate the leftover chile verde on its own the next day with a tortilla. It's soupy texture was perfect for a light lunch. Oh, the flavors! Make this sooooooon!

Bright green!

After a couple of hours in the dutch oven....

Wet burrito with fresh guac. NOM NOM!!!

Chile Verde

Yield: Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed (I used 2 seeded serranos)
• 2 Anaheim or Poblano chiles (optional)
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, washed

• 3 1/2 to 4 pounds pork shoulder (also called pork butt), trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1-2 inch cubes (I used 2 pork sirloins from costco)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 tbs of chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tbs of dried oregano)
• 2 1/2 c chicken stock (I used 1 ½ c)
• Pinch of ground cloves

Method:

1. Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well. If you have a Vitamix blender, put the chile verde sauce ingrediens into blender. You could use a food processor if that's what you have. Cut tomatillos into quarters and place into blender container. Add the garlic, serranos, and cilantro to the tomatillos and blend thoroughly. You can add a couple Anaheim or Poblano chiles. Either use canned green chiles or roast fresh chilies over a gas flame or under the broiler until blackened all around. Let cool in a bag, remove the skin, seeds, and stem.
2. Season the pork cubes generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a dutch oven (or a large, heavy-bottomed skillet) over medium high heat and brown pork chunks well on all sides. Work in batches so that the pork is not crowded in the pan and has a better chance to brown well. Using a slotted spoon or tongs, lift pork out of pan and place in bowl to set aside.
3. Pour out excess fat leaving about a tablespoon and place the onions and garlic in the same dutch oven and saute about 5 minutes or till onions are translucent. Hopefully, your dutch oven is large enough to cook the entire batch of chile verde with the sauce and meat. 
4. Add the pork back to the dutch oven and add oregano. Then add the tomatillo chile verde sauce to the pork and onions. 
5. Add the chicken stock (enough to cover the meat), add a pinch of ground cloves, and a little salt and pepper. Not too much as the chile verde will continue to cook down and concentrate a bit.
6. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours or until the pork is fork tender.
7. Adjust the seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. 
8. Serve with spanish rice and warmed flour or corn tortillas. Can also make wet chile verde burritos by adding some chile verde into a warmed tortilla, roll it up, pour more sauce on top, top with shredded cheese, and microwave to melt cheese or put in broiler to brown cheese (be careful plates are oven safe and keep an eye on the burritos to avoid burning them).

Source: adapted from Simply Recipes

Crockpot Lasagna

We really love pasta. lt's filling, delicious, and comforting. I serve it with a side of garlic bread and salad and my boys eat it up. They LOVE pasta! Because of Son #2's egg allergy, he has never eaten lasagna because restaurants add egg in the ricotta mixture. I found a recipe for crockpot lasagna and I was all over it. I knew I had to make lasagna for my allergy boy, and because it was a crockpot recipe, I knew I had to give it a try. It was tasty! 

In my opinion, the point of a crockpot meal is a one-pot, easy meal but this recipe requires you to cook the ground beef first. The extra step and dirty pan was well worth it. 

Crockpot Lasagna  

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef (I used packaged ground tofu from Costco)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 tbs minced garlic
• 29 oz can tomato sauce (add 1 tsp each:  Italian seasonings, basil, oregano, garlic salt)
• 8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (I used 2 c)
• 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (I used 15 oz Ricotta) Cottage cheese

Directions

1. Spray the inside of the crockpot with cooking spray.
2. Spray pan with oil, and when heated, saute garlic and onions.
3. When onions become translucent, add the ground beef (or ground tofu) and continue sauteeing until cooked through. Add seasonings to taste (I used garlic salt and pepper).
4. Add the tomato sauce and 1 tsp each Italian seasonings, basil, oregano, and garlic salt.
5. Spread ¼ of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crockpot.
6. Arrange ⅓ of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (break them up so they fit better).
7. Spread ⅓ of the ricotta over the noodles. Sprinkle handful of mozzarella over the ricotta.
8. Repeat these layers twice and top with remaining sauce.
9. Cover and cook on low for 4 hrs.
10. Let the lasagna stand in the crockpot with the lid off for 5-8 minutes before serving.

Optional:

* Use Italian sausage in place of ground beef or in addition to the ground beef.

* Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese to the cheese mixture.

* Add 1/2 - 3/4 cup additional shredded mozzarella cheese to the top of lasagna 5 minutes before serving.

Source: adapted from Creating Through LIFE