Colorado Green Chili

A Cooking Process Story

This is how I make green chili. I specify it as Colorado green chili because I don ’t want to offend the New Mexicans that claim their version is the real deal (kidding). But it is in fact quite its own thing – from what I tasted the last time I was in New Mexico, theirs was more of a cooked chili puree with no or little tomato – pure and tasty, but not quite the same flavor as its Coloradan counterpart. Which is the “ real” green chili/chile? Well, it’ s very likely that New Mexico ’ s is more authentic Mexican, though people from Mexico that I’ ve known usually prefer red chile or just salsa anyway. Regardless, both can be delicious! I don ’t know how Colorado green chili came to distinguish itself – maybe it’ s more intentionally Chicano (Mexican American), mixing Mexican cooking methods with those of other American ethnicities, because of Colorado ’ s Chicano history? Or maybe it involved some French influences since what largely sets it apart is a roux/gravy base? I don ’t know – I just love to eat it.

Colorado green chili is gravy or sauce-like in consistency, and made with hot roasted green chili, tomatoes, all the spices that make it delicious, and meat (often pork, as I use here). It is usually served as part of a greater meal with beans, tortillas, and rice or potatoes (or any other number of sides). It is also often enjoyed smothered over a burrito. But it can be eaten by the bowl or in any other number of ways – one of my favorites of which I will share with you at the end, so stay tuned! I was born and raised in Colorado and anyone I’ ve seen make green chili has a similar process to this one, and it’ s just that – a process. Because, what makes everyone ’ s chili taste so uniquely theirs or why mine might taste one way one time and a bit different the next, is the lack of measurements and “ season to taste ” elements.

Ingredients

● A medium package of diced pork (diced chicken or ground beef can be used too) ● Flour ● Vegetable Oil ● 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes ● Hot roasted green chili (about 4-6 peppers) ● Salt ● Garlic ● White or yellow onion ● Water ● Optional: Mexican oregano; cumin; garlic powder; onion powder; medium roasted green chili

Preparation

1. Defrost meat if frozen (If your meat is fresh and not frozen, skip to the next step.): Put package of frozen diced pork in a large pot. This package of pork was the basic medium size you get at King Soopers. If your meat is just coming out of the freezer, speed defrost it by steam-cooking it. Do this by pouring just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot, place the block of frozen diced meat over the water, and cover with a lid. Heat on medium. Allow the covered meat to defrost for a few minutes. When it sounds like it's cooking, remove lid and break up the meat pieces with a wooden spoon. Replace lid and repeat until all meat has defrosted and broken apart.

2. Cook the meat: Salt the meat with a couple generous dashes. Turn up the heat a bit (just under med-high). Pour just enough vegetable oil into the pot to keep meat from sticking, and occasionally stir.

Note: If using ground beef, you probably won ’t need the oil in this step.

3. As the meat begins to cook or even during the defrosting process, get your onion, garlic, and chili ready: ○ Dice half a small-medium sized onion (about ¼ cup). Mince or press about three garlic cloves. These are going into the pot in the next step.

I actually prefer white onions for Mexican food because of their bold, bright flavor, but as yellow onions were what was available at the store and I’ m actually more familiar with them because that’ s what my mom uses, I used a yellow one which is still good and sweet.

○ Defrost, peel, and chop 4-6 roasted hot green chili peppers. Set aside; the chili won ’t be going in for a while.

Story time. My family buys a couple bushels of roasted green chili to freeze every fall. In the Denver area you can usually find someone selling somewhere on Sheridan or Federal. My family has gotten roasted Hatch green chili from the same guy the past few years; he comes up from Hatch every season to sell. Note, Hatch green chili only comes from Hatch Valley, New Mexico – hence the name. A lot of people throw the label “Hatch chili/chile ” or “Hatch peppers ” on any green chili pepper even if it’ s from Anaheim, Pueblo, etc., because Hatch chili is known for its taste. But its taste and quality come from the area and climate it’ s grown in.

You can usually get the chili in mild, medium, hot, extra-hot, or dynamite. We usually get mostly hot-extra hot and maybe some medium for flavor and dynamite for heat. I think the chili I use here is extra hot, though this past season, it was more of a solid “hot” . So, though they ’ re categorized and labeled, the degree of heat can still differ. I like to tell the degree of heat of the chili I’ m cooking with just by dabbing the roasted chili pepper with my finger and touching it to the tip of my tongue. If I can feel and taste the spice, it’ s probably hot; if I can ’t, it’ s mild-medium; if it surprises me, it’ s extra-hot or dynamite. This way, if it is extremely spicy, you don ’t have chug water or chew ice or wipe your tears because you stuck a chunk of chili in your mouth that was hotter than expected. Once we get home, we separate the roasted chili into small baggies – about 4-6 peppers per baggy depending on the sizes, let them cool, smooth the baggies tightly to get the air out then seal them, and freeze. We refrigerate some big meaty ones for a dinner of fresh rellenos. If we ’ re lucky, the frozen chili lasts the year.

As not everyone buys stock of chili, you can usually find packages of already-chopped green chili in the frozen section of the grocery store. We often even get this to add to dishes like green chili to add more flavor, color, and to make chili less gravy-like and more chilified. You can also get green chili in small cans, though you would need a lot, and canned is not ideal. If you grow your own chili, you can roast the peppers in the oven or barbecue first, but that’s quite a time-consuming process.

4. Toss the onion and garlic into the meat as it cooks. Continue to cook until meat is golden brown and cooked through. Turn on low to keep warm. 5. Now it’s time to make the roux! A roux is just the base of a gravy – browned oil and flour, but it’s very important as it is what thickens the chili and adds to the flavor.

○ In a separate pan, put about ¾ cup of flour and enough oil to make a thin paste. Brown over medium heat. As it heats up it will become thinner, then thicken up again as it browns. ○ Stir the roux, spreading it across the bottom of the pan so it browns quicker and more evenly. Some say it smells nutty when it’s done browning. I just brown it until it’s a thin pasty consistency and a tan color. The consistency doesn’t matter too much as it will be added to the meat with lots of liquid anyway. What is most important is that you don’t burn it.

Note: A cheat way of thickening chili with the same ingredients is, once the meat is cooked all the way through but not yet browned, generously sprinkle flour over the meat and oil before browning it all together. This method usually works best with hamburger chili (using ground beef instead of a white meat).

6. With the meat in the pot, stir roux from the pan into the meat. Add entire can of petite diced tomatoes. Add water until pot is just over halfway full. Bring to a boil.

7. IF for some reason the chili looks more like a soup after adding the water and boiling for a good 5-10 minutes, you can make a separate small batch of roux/gravy base (about ¼ cup of flour worth) and add to the pot and bring to a boil. If chili is thicker and looks more like chili than soup, skip this step.

8. Once chili is thick enough and is starting to look like chili, add more water until just over ¾ full, leaving a few inches to easily stir and boil without spilling over.

Stir in chopped roasted green chili. Salt to taste (it almost always needs plenty of salt even if you properly salt the meat).

9. Bring to a rolling boil and stir occasionally for at least 10 minutes to cook off any flour taste. Taste the chili, then add more seasonings to taste: If it’s not flavorful enough, you can add more salt, as well as garlic and/or onion powder. If it’s not hot enough, add more hot green chili if you have it or dash in some cayenne pepper. If the heat level is where you want it, but you want more chili flavor (more is always better if you have it), add mild/medium green chili to improve the taste. You can never have enough chili in chili (unless it becomes unbearably spicy)!

I added more salt to taste (the key to good Mexican food is the perfect proportion of both salt and chili). I also added garlic and onion powder for some extra flavor, and some cayenne pepper for heat since I unfortunately didn ’t have any more green chili to spare and I just love cayenne on everything (I know dried seasonings are never better than fresh, but I think they ’ re yummy and homey). You can also add a couple pinches of dried Mexican oregano for added color and flavor if you have it. Some people add cumin; if you do, I’d recommend only a tiny pinch as it is very strong. Comino/cumin is what gives food that smoky chipotle flavor that you often taste in Tex-Mex food. I don ’t personally like that flavor in my chilis or salsas as it can change the whole dish dramatically, but go for it if that’ s what you like!

Note: I would have used a whole lot more green chili for flavor and color if I had it, but I was hungry, and the flavor was still delicious, so I called it a day.

10. Turn down heat to low and let chili simmer until ready to serve! Chili can stay on a simmer for as long as you need it hot. It can ’t really overcook, so long as it doesn ’t burn or stick, and you can keep adding water if it boils down or gets too thick. ***Bonus!*** I made green chili cheese fries with my chili the first night, refrigerated some for leftovers, and froze the rest in serving size bowls or baggies to last me a good month.

For chili cheese fries: Buy, bake, or fry your choice of French fries, put hot fries on a plate, pour a generous amount of green chili over the fries, and drizzle hot nacho cheese sauce or sprinkle shredded cheese over the top (I promise classic nacho cheese sauce makes the best chili cheese fries, but either way is delicious – your choice). Serve with a cold Pepsi.

Hannah Gonzales