Thursday, November 4, 2010

Chili Verde



So today for my MoFo post I would like to share with you a Mexican recipe. Anyone that likes salsa verde will love this chili. The taste is very similar because both rely heavily on tomatillos for its main ingredient and flavor. This stew is really light but makes for a really comforting dinner on those cold fall nights.

If you would like to make this dish a little heavier, you can add 2 russet potatoes, boiled and chopped. And they can be added the same time as the beans. If the flavor of the stew is too bitter, trying adding one tablespoon of sugar, one at a time until the desired taste is reached.

Serves 4 to 6


Ingredients
* 1 Tb canola oil
* 1 ( 15 ounce ) Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
* 2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced into 1 inch pieces ( roasted if preferred )
* 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced finely ( roasted if preferred, directions below )
* 1 yellow onion, diced finely
* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped finely
* 3 cloves of garlic, minced
* 2 tsp ground cumin
* 1 tsp ground coriander
* 1 tsp dried oregano
* 1 lb tomatillos, husked and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
* 2 1/3 cups vegetable broth
* 3/4 tsp salt
* 1 cup cilantro, chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped scallions
* juice of half a lime

Directions
1. Preheat a medium sized skillet, over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes. ( If you did not roast the peppers, add them now as well )

3. Add roasted jalapeno and poblano peppers and heat through.

4. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano and salt. Saute one minute more, stirring until everything is mixed well.

5. Add 1/3 cup of vegetable broth and the tomatillos and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the rest of the vegetable broth ( 2 cups), scallions. Simmer covered for 45 minutes.


7. Add 1/2 cup of cilantro, stir and simmer for another 15 minutes.

8. Use an immersion blender to partially puree everything or pulse using a blender. ( If using an immersion blender in a shallow pot, as I did, please be careful and do little pulses. It did tend to splash a little when I blended for too long ).

9. Add beans and simmer until everything is heated through.

10. Turn off heat and stir in the remaining cilantro and lime juice.


How To Roast Peppers
1. On a gas stove, over high heat, place one pepper per burner. Making sure they are as close to the flame as possible.

2. Leave them over the flame, constantly monitoring. The cracking noise you will hear is a good sign, it means the peppers are roasting.

3. Rotate the peppers using tongs, once that one side has blackened.

4. Remove from the stove once they have blackened competely and place in a plastic or paper bag. The steam from the peppers will allow the skin to be removed easier.

5. Once they have cooled down, rub off the skin with your fingers. If the peppers are still too hot to handle, I like to remove the skin in a bowl of cold water.
You have now roasted peppers! : ]

12 comments:

  1. Yum Jacklyn. My Cauldron Boy loves salsa verde, so I bet he would be nuts for this. I don't have a gas stove though-don't tell anybody (smile)!

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  2. Really? I wish I had an electric! You can still roast in the oven : ]

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  3. Aw, I have never cooked with or eaten tomatillos, they are no where to be found here! That looks really good though, it makes me wish there were some..

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  4. I LOVE all the photos you posted! It looks fabulous!

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  5. Falovi - Really? That's so strange to me. There have them everywhere out here..in local markets and in Hispanic markets. Maybe you can substitute them with green tomatoes, if you can find those.

    Andy - Thank you! : ]

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  6. Hey Jacklyn, yeah, I use radish tops-they are kind of furry and rough, but once they are ground up with other things they are delicious. Oh, and obviously super healthful too. I also sometimes throw them into bean soups instead of kale...
    Ooh, beet tops are wonderful sauteed with garlic and vegetable broth too!

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  7. I love salsa verde so this chili must be good. Wish I had a gas stove now to make roasted peppers. By the way, I'm holding a CSN giveaway on my blog and you're welcome to come by and enter. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2010/11/45-csn-giveaway.html

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  8. Thanks for the recipe AND tutorial on roasting peppers. Great post and Happy MoFo'ing!

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  9. I loooove chili verde, I grew up eating it all the time! Oure recipes look prett similar although I add seitan, chickpeas, and cook mine in a slow cooker :)

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  10. I made a tomatillo soup this summer - yours looks much better! I love pureeing soups and then adding beans. I'll have to try roasting peppers on the flame, too. Your photos are giving me courage to do it and not make a mess!

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  11. This appeals to me so much, I love salsa verde!

    Also, I'm having trouble seeing your latest post and wanted to let you know. All I see is the heading and a small photo then no more text.

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  12. Mandee - Really? Hmm..I'll try and see what's wrong.

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