Green Chili – Mexico’s Mother Sauce

 

Green Chili – Mother Sauce of Mexico was one of the important sauces we were reunited with when we moved back to Colorado. My children had clamored for years for Aunt Sarah’s green chili in Michigan and now I could finally try making it myself.  And the ingredients would be available in our local grocery! Although Sarah emailed me her recipe, it had languished for years on my hard drive untouched. I guess I just needed to move out West to join the Mexican food culture that is so alive here.

Green chili reminds me of everything about Colorado — its scents of garlic and roasted Anaheim peppers, fresh cilantro and cumin hanging in my mind alongside a vision of the dramatic sweep of Rocky Mountain foothills and the bright sun! This was only a delicious, drowsy memory, just out of reach, until we came home to Colorado again.

Inspired by Aunt Sarah

So the recipe below is inspired by my sister Sarah, who always uses tomatillos and pork shoulder versus loin, taking ideas as well from other recipes, including Lauren Ray’s Gambler’s Chili, which won the 2008 Chili Verde World Cookoff. I have made my own, milder interpretation that anyone can eat with the addition of tomatillos cooked in bone broth and substituting celery seed for celery salt.

 Here is a simple and quick FFA recipe for grilled shrimp, avocado and cheese quesadillas!

And I know there are a million recipes for green chili on the Internet, but after having made this one about 20 times, my recipe is tested and beloved: mild yet packed with green chilies, mellow with deep, satisfying flavors that anyone, at any age can eat in comfort. And you can go ahead and turn up the heat if you like it hotter. This is a recipe that you will find yourself returning to for that deep-connected feeling that lives within Green Chili – Mexico’s Mother Sauce.

Flexible and Provides a Quick Meal in a Pinch

So this Green Chili – Mexico’s Mother Sauce recipe is a very flexible batch recipe! It can be enjoyed simply as a cup of chili with tortilla chips on the side, as a sauce on a burrito or chile relleno or smeared inside a tamale as you make them. It can be ladled over huevos rancheros or happily paired with almost any savory Mexican-food fabrication from your kitchen.

And the best part is that after you’ve cooked it for 2 1/2 hours in your slow cooker, unless you have an army to eat it, you can cool it and freeze it in serving-size Hefty bags.

Make it Mild or Make it Hot!

When I finished a cup of it just now, it gaves just the edge of spicy heat that makes it palatable and a forever-flavor obsession that we at Food for the Ages search out for you. Chili doesn’t have to be hot to be good, but if this is too wimpy for you, just keep a bowl of diced jalapeños on the table when you serve friends and family who can season to their own tastes. Vegetarian? Omit the pork and use vegetable Better than Boullion and veggie stock.

Whatever you do, wherever you live, taste and enjoy Green Chili – Mother Sauce of Mexico and make great tasting memories for yourself, your friends and your family!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green Chili – Mother Sauce of Mexico

• 2 lbs pork shoulder, cubed
• 1 large, sweet onion coarsely chopped
• 1, 32-ounce box of chicken bone broth
• 6 fresh tomatillos, dry husks removed, cut into 1/8ths, placed in small saucepan, covered with bone broth, cooked until tender, then blended until skins are thoroughly pulverized (If you’re in a hurry you can substitute the tomatillos with 10 ounces of bottled green salsa, your choice of heat.)
• 2 cups diced green chile (I used Ortega’s Mild, Fire-Roasted Green Chiles.)
• 3 large garlic cloves crushed and chopped 
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Better than Boullion chicken base
• 1 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or 1 tablespoon dried
• Between 1/2 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon chile powder, to taste 
• Between 1/2 teaspoon and 3 tablespoons diced jalapeño peppers, optional 
• Green Tabasco to taste
• Salt to taste

1. In large pan brown the pork in batches. Remove and set aside. Combine all ingredients in same pan or crock pot and add pork. Cook covered for 2.5 hours. This makes a large batch and this freezes well for use later.