I’ve never made chili verde before, but I’ve always wanted to.  I’ve always lived in places where the fresh chillies and tomatillos were not available.  I should have never left California 😀

I remember my mother and her friend roasting chillies( I think Anaheims) over the gas flame, sealing them in a brown paper bag until cool, removing the skins, slitting the chillies on one side, stuffing each chilli with raw onion and grated cheese, dipping them in egg batter, then frying in oil until golden brown.  The chillies rellanos were served with fresh salsa and a dollop of sour cream.  Authentic Mexican!  To my shock and disbelief, I found fresh poblano, jalapeno and serrano chillies for the first time here in Honesdale!

Fresh tomatillos were not available, but I did have a case of canned tomatillos in the pantry, bought in hope that I would be able to use them one day. Of course canned tomatillos are not the same as fresh, but the flavor was there, if not the texture.

Once the roasted chillies, tomatillos and aromatics are chopped and blended, you have a thick, rich sauce that surely can be used in other Mexican dishes.  I’m certainly going to try.

This recipe was inspired by isabeleats with very few changes.

For the meat, I used a 3 lb pork rolled roast, cut into cubes, decreasing the cooking time it would have taken with a less expensive cut.

This was delicious, not that spicy hot, but you could taste the chillies and know that the cuisine was Mexican inspired 🙂  Serve with rice or warmed flour tortillas.

For recipe, see Isabel Eats by clicking the link above.