Sweet Melissas Colorado Green Chili Recipe

How to make it

---

• Turn oven on broil with rack at highest level. Cut the tops off of poblanos, anaheimes, and jalapenos. Cut in half the long way so that they lay as flat as possible and remove all seeds and ribs (for more heat, leave seeds and ribs in some of the chilies as desired). in batches place chilies skin side up on a baking sheet and place under broiler until skin is black. Remove from broiler, place chilies in a paper bag, and roll the top shut to steam. Repeat with remaining chilies adding to the same paper bag. Allow chilies to steam for 20 minutes and then peel skin off of all of them as well as possible. Dice them fine by hand or pulse in a food processor.
• In a large Dutch over medium high heat brown bacon rendering as much fat as possible. Remove bacon pieces to a plate lined with a paper towel and pour half of fat into a bowl leaving approximately 2 tablespoons in the pot. Add onions, salt, and pepper and brown for 10 to 12 minutes adding 2 tablespoons of cumin and 1 tablespoon of chili powder in last 3 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss pork, 2 tablespoons of cumin, and 1 tablespoon of chili powder together coating meat evenly with spices. Add garlic to onions and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chopped chilies to onion garlic mixture and brown for 3 minutes more. Remove onion, garlic, chili mixture to a bowl. Add some of remaining bacon fat back to pot. In batches, sear pork on all sides being careful not to overcrowd the pot and adding fat as necessary (you can substitute oil for this). Remove pork with a slotted spoon or tongs to a plate and repeat with remaining meat. Once all meat is browned, deglaze the pan with diced tomatoes being sure to scrape up all of the fond that has accumulated in the pan. Stir in chicken broth, oregano, onion, garlic, chilies, pork, cilantro, and bacon. Bring to a boil and simmer covered over low heat for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour remove lid and ladle 2 cups of liquid with as many of the solids as you can into a food processor without any of the pork. Tear 2 corn tortillas into small pieces and add to food processor. Process until smooth and add back to pot with the juice of 1 lime. Simmer 1 hour more uncovered. Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy with a dollop of sour cream and some good quality tortillas.
• For those of you who don't eat pork or bacon, you could eliminate the bacon and substitute bone in chicken thighs for the pork shoulder. Remove the skin from the thighs, brown them, and simmer them the same as the pork. Remove them after the first hour, shread them, and return to the pot fot the last hour. Avoid breasts as they get tough and dry.
• * if your pork shoulder has a bone in it, trim meat off as close to bone as possible, brown it with the meat, and add it to the pot while it simmers. If your dog is anything like ours, it'll love you for it.