Pork And Black Bean Chili Verde Pt 1

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Grains, Meats, Vegetables, Dairy	Cuban		1	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2	c	Dried black beans, about 10
		ounces picked over and
		rinsed
4		Poblano chiles
4		Cubanelle chiles, Italian
		frying peppers see
		notes
3		Green bell peppers
1		Haban~ero chile, see notes
1	lb	Fresh spinach, stemmed
10		Tomatillos – husked, rinsed
		and quartered
5		Scallions, coarsely chopped
1		Meaty smoked ham hock, about
		1 pound
2		Bay leaves
3	T	Vegetable oil
2	lb	Trimmed boneless pork
		shoulder or butt cut
		into
		1-inch cubes
		Salt and freshly ground
		black pepper
1		White onion, finely chopped
6		Garlic cloves, minced
1	T	Sugar
1	T	Ground cumin
1	c	Finely chopped fresh
		coriander leaves
		cilantro
		Tortilla chips or corn bread
		and sour cream for
		serving

INSTRUCTIONS

"Food & Wine," March, 1994, pp. 72-74  Place the black beans in a
medium saucepan and add 6 cups of water.  Bring to a boil over
moderately high heat and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and
let stand for 1 hour. Meanwhile, roast the  poblanos, cubanelles, bell
peppers and haban~ero under the broiler or  over a gas flame (see
notes), turning frequently, until blackened all  over. Transfer them to
a paper bag and let steam for 10 minutes. Peel  the chiles and peppers
under running water and remove the cores,  seeds and ribs. Drain and
pat dry. Place them all in a food processor  or blender with the
spinach, tomatillos and scallions and puree until  smooth (see notes).
Drain the black beans and return them to the  saucepan. Add the ham
hock, bay leaves and 6 more cups of water.  Bring to a boil over
moderately high heat. Cover and simmer over low  heat until the beans
are tender, about 1.5 hours. Drain the beans,  reserving 1 cup of the
liquid; discard the bay leaves. Remove the  meat from the ham hock, cut
it into 3/4 inch pieces and set aside  (see notes). Heat 2 tablespoons
of the oil in a large enameled  cast-iron casserole. Season the pork
cubes with salt and black  pepper. Add some of the meat to the
casserole in a single layer and  cook over high heat until well browned
all over, about 5 minutes.  Transfer the cooked pork to a plate and
brown the remaining meat in  batches. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon
oil in the casserole. Add  the onion and garlic and cook over moderate
heat, stirring  occasionally, until translucent, about 3 minutes.
Return the browned  pork to the casserole with the chile and spinach
puree, sugar, cumin  and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over
moderately high heat. Lower  the heat and simmer gently until the meat
is very tender, about 2  hours. Stir in the black beans and cubed ham
with the reserved  cooking liquid. (The chili can be prepared up to 3
days ahead; cover  and refrigerate. Rewarm slowly over moderate heat.)
Season the chili  with the corainder and salt. Spoon the chili into
bowls and serve  with tortilla chips and sour cream.  Notes from Tony
and Gloria:  Allow a full day to make this recipe; it's a lot of work.
However,  note that the beans don't have to be soaked overnight so you
can  start and finish the entire job in one day. This chili is unique
in  my experience, but quite delicious and worth the effort. As it
stands, this is not a very hot recipe. Chile-heads should adjust the
quantity of haban~ero to suit individual taste. We used three ripe
Fresno chiles instead of the haban~ero; it was tangy, but not very
hot. Ah, the elusive cubanelle. We used "biscene" peppers obtained at
a local farmers market. Others have convinced  continued in part 2

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 5863 Calories From Fat: 4400 Total Fat: 491g Cholesterol: 711.6mg Sodium: 11140mg Potassium: 6416.4mg Carbohydrates: 203.2g Fiber: 67.7g Sugar: 33.4g Protein: 174.4g