Pork Chile Verde Enchiladas

The weekly "Happy Hour" party was at our house this Wednesday and I decided I wanted to cook an authentic mexican meal for 20 people. Not the easiest thing I've ever done. After quite a bit of planning I decided on red and green enchiladas, refried beans, rice, chile rellenos, guac and pico de gallo. All made from scratch. I don't think I realized just how long this was going to take me. Needless to say with all the running around I was doing trying to get people fed, I didn't stop to take any pictures. This picture was taken the next day with the little leftovers I had (hence the sorry looking beans). But take my word for it, it was delicious. I'm just writing up the green enchiladas (the best part of the meal) right now. I'll do the rest later, so get used to that picture, you'll be seeing it again.

These enchiladas were absolutely delicious. They were by far my favorite part of the meal. Tender pork simmered with Anaheim chiles, onion and garlic, shredded and rolled in tortillas, and smothered in fresh salsa verde and cheese. I love Mexican food.

Pork Chile Verde Enchiladas

for the pork

8 Anaheim chiles

2 tsp ground cumin

2 Tbsp safflower or other flavorless oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 lbs. pork shoulder or country-style ribs, cut in chunks

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 cups water

Salt and Pepper

Char, peel, seed and chop the chiles, I've shown this before. Heat oil in heavy pot or dutch oven and saute onion for about 3 minutes. Add the pork chunks and brown while the liquid evaporates, about 15 minutes. Add chiles, cumin and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with water and simmer, covered, until meat is tender about an hour and a half. Then uncover and reduce the liquid a bit (otherwise you'll have soggy enchiladas). When you are ready to stuff the tortillas, shred the meat. I find a potato masher makes quick work of shredding meat. Place a bit of the meat mixture into a flour tortilla (I used soft taco sized because I was feeding a bunch of people) and roll it up. Place in a roasting pan and cover it with the salsa...

for the salsa verde

3 fresh Anaheim chiles

5 tomatillos

15 oz. chicken stock
1/2 cup chopped onions
1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup sour cream
Salt and pepper

Char, peel, seed and chop the chiles like before. Combine the broth, tomatillos, jalapeno, garlic, and onion in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a blender, add the chile, cilantro and lime juice. Blend until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the rolled enchiladas, cover in some mexican cheese (I recommend asadero, chihuahua or oaxacan) and bake until the cheese melts.

Notes:
1. If you want to go real traditional then you can use corn tortillas and dip the tortillas in the sauce, shake off the excess, then roll the enchiladas. I think that the flavor of corn tortillas kinda bullies everything else in a dish, so I like flour. And I'm not spending all that time dipping and rolling.
2. If you can't find anaheim chiles, canned green chiles are usually anaheims or something pretty close. Get the whole canned chiles, they are already roasted, peeled and seeded.
3. If you want to add some texture to these enchiladas you can add some raw chopped onion on the inside and maybe sprinkle some chopped tomatoes ontop.