MILLIE'S FRESH GREEN CHILE

Millie's Fresh Green Chile image

This recipe is from the late Millie Santillanes' compilation cookbook, New Mexican Feasts from the Land of Enchantment, Unique Cooking of New Mexico. When the green chiles are harvested, there are many here who roast them. Fruit and vegetable stands all seem to have big roasters that go all day. The scent of roasting green...

Provided by Jane Hughes

Time 1h30m

Number Of Ingredients 22

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Ingredients

FRESH GREEN CHILE:
2 to 4 clove garlic, pressed
2 c green chile, roasted and peeled (see step 1 of directions)
salt to taste
cilantro to taste (optional)
GREEN CHILE SAUCE:
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 small onion, minced
2 to 4 clove garlic, minced
2 c fresh green chile (prepared above) or buy frozen
4 to 6 tomatoes, diced
salt to taste
GREEN CHILE SAUCE WITH MEAT:
1 lb lean diced pork or beef (ground or diced)
1 onion, sliced
DRIED GREEN CHILE SAUCE:
12 dried green chiles
1 lb pork steak, cubed
2 c water
1 c canned or fresh tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp garlic powder or diced fresh garlic

Steps:

1. FRESH GREEN CHILE: Before roasting green chile, wash, dry and pierce with a fork to prevent popping. Chile can be roasted on a skillet or griddle, in the broiler or on a grill. On a hot skillet or griddle, roast chile until skin is blistered on all sides. Turn often to avoid burning. To broil, place chile on cookie sheet 4 to 6 inches from broiler. When the chile is blistered on all sides, place in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth and allow to steam for 15-20 minutes before peeling. The steaming process makes it much easier to peel. To peel, start at the stem and pull downward. Remove stem and seeds. Depending on how hot you like your chile you can either remove the interior veins or not. Your green chile is now ready to be used in recipes or frozen to be used later. To use it now, chop the green chile to a fine dice. Mix it with pressed garlic. Season to taste. Add cilantro to taste; it's optional but a good addition.
2. GREEN CHILE SAUCE: Heat oil in a heavy skillet or saucepan. Add onion and sauté until transparent. Add garlic, green chile and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently for about 8 minutes. Salt to taste.
3. GREEN CHILE SAUCE WITH MEAT: Sauté meat until brown. Add onions and follow basic recipe above for Green Chile Sauce. Bring to a boil, simmer, stirring frequently, for approximately 30 minutes or until meat is tender.
4. DRIED GREEN CHILE SAUCE: Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles. Soak in lukewarm water until softened. Brown cubed pork until completely cooked. Add tomatoes, seasonings, water and chopped green chiles. Adjust seasonings to taste.
5. What most people around here do is either buy green chiles when they're harvested and roast and freeze them, or they buy them from a store that roasts and freezes the chiles and sells them that way. That's what we use to make our Green Chile Sauce, with or without meat as directed above.
6. If you want to buy roasted and frozen green chiles, this is a well recommended online source. http://www.newmexicanconnection.com/