3000 miles 'til dinner.

Original MIL Mission #51: Pork Chile Verde

Because Husband has been 3000 Miles Away on a shoot for the better part of the last three weeks, I haven’t had much of a reason to get in the kitchen for more than a bowl of cereal or a rogue cookie. But I decided that while he was out of town, I would have my friend Dawn over for a MIL-esque feast. And because she doesn’t eat pork, it gave me a chance to wing this pork chile verde into a chicken chile verde. 

Los Ingredients. (I took french in high school, so…)

♥HOW I MADE IT.♥

I have never in my life bought a tomatillo. And it delights me to no end when this blog causes me to do something I’ve never done before. (note: this tomatillo seems to have grown a puppy butt!)

I made my verde sauce the night before as I was having Dawn over on a school night and didn’t want dinner to start too late. I pulsed my tomatillos until finely chopped. I love the color because it gets me in a spring state of mind.

Then pulsed the onions, garlic, serrano and cilantro. 

All the veg went into my crock pot along with the herbs and spices.

And the chicken stock and chiles. 

I brought it all to a bubble on high in the crock pot and just let it bubble and stew for three or four hours aka three episodes of Gossip Girl until I went to bed. (like I said, Husband is out of town)

I had originally bought some boneless skinless chicken thighs, but when I spoke with MIL on the phone, she mentioned that I would be much better off using chicken with the bone and skin on. A little more fat = a lot more flavor. As it turns out, I had some thighs and drums leftover from my chicken marbella.

POULTRY MANIFEST DESTINY!

So, I pre-heated my big ‘ol fancy skillet in the oven with some oil and put my thighs and drums in there until browned. (again, I had some over-the-phone MIL help for this one)

Then I poured my pre-cooked verde sauce over the top and back into the oven for about an hour. 

Drumstick inspection. Done!

♥MIL MISSION #51: ACCOMPLISHED.♥

Such flavor!

I really had no idea how to serve this dish. It’s pretty saucy, so I served the verde in a bowl with some yogurt and cilantro on top and paired it with black beans and some skillet-warmed tortillas. Dawn brought a crisp bottle of Sancerre (which was lovely with the meal and goes much better with my aforementioned french speaking).

Thanks to Dawn for being a very entertaining food test subject and to MIL, for another delectable recipe. 

♥PLATE IT, ATE IT, GRADED IT.♥

scale: 0 (not at all) to 5 (very)

Cupboard to table time: a couple hours

Difficulty: 4 (two-stepper)

Deliciousness: 5 (The fresh tomatillos make this dish. Can’t wait to try with pork!)

Impressed Husband friend factor: 5 (Although, like most New Yorkers, she’s not one to turn her own oven on very often. So I think she would have appreciated any home cooked meal!)

Leftover-friendly: 5 (When Husband got home from his shoot the next night, I was so happy to see that he ate the leftover verde for dinner.)

(posted by jessica)