Green Chile

Although I have yet to win the chile competition at my work the green chile is easy to make and tastes great.

lb. pork tenderloin cut into bite size pieces
1/2 onion diced
bundle of cilantra finely chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
2 limes
4 jalapenos chopped
8 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1 large can of green chiles chopped into bite sized pieces
1 can of crushed tomatos
1-3 chopped bell peppers (optional)
cumin
chile powder

First take a large pot and heat the onion, jalepno, and garlic with some olive oil. I try to get the onions as fine as possible because I don't like to bite into onion chunks, but admit that cooked down onion adds nice flavor. Depending on how hot you want your chile will determine how much you clean the seeds and ribs out of the jalapeno. That's where the majority of the heat is, so if you want it gone you'll have to clean everything out of the middle. I would wear gloves because prolonged exposure to the oils of the pepper can cause your skin to burn for days. Just cook for a couple of minutes until the oil has been infused with the flavors of the ingredients.

Add the pork and cook in the put stirring occassionally until it has been browned.

Add 1/2 of the cilantro and the juice of the limes to finish flavoring the pork.

Add remaining ingredients. I always eyeball the amount of spices relative to the amount of chile being made. You want to generally include a proportional amount of cumin, so the bigger the batch the more you put in. Cumin is pretty powerful, so somewhere around 2 tablespoons for a large batch is about right. Your chile powder is another way to control heat, if you don't like any, you may not include any. Put as much as will give the right amount of pop to your chile. Since the green chiles you buy in the can are always mild, it makes adding the powdered stuff necessary. If you can get chiles freshly roasted during the right times of year you may have options to buy the hotter stuff, rendering the powder unessecary.

Bring the chile to a boil then turn the temperature down to low and cover with a lid. I would cook this at least 2 hours, but the longer the better. The longer the pork gets a chance to cook the more tender it will become and the more its juices will flavor the broth. All the veggies will also cook down quite a bit and that will break them down also turning your chile into a more singular creation.

Serve in a bowl and for those who find it a little hot, mixing in a dollup of sour cream should do the trick.

A big batch works great because you can either freeze the leftovers, or use as a topping or a dip in later days.