Recipe of the Week: Pork green chile tacos

A main staple of authentic Mexican cooking is green chiles.

There are multiple varieties of the green pepper that find their way into various dishes.

As a strong appreciator of Mexican cuisine — my first job was as a cook at a Shakopee Mexican restaurant called Pablo's and my family has frequented Mexican restaurants on trips to Arizona and Mexico — I've seen first-hand the various ways green chiles are incorporated.

One of the most common ways is simmering pork in a green chile sauce. This recipe is based on what would be served in a typical Mexican home. To cool the spice level, use fewer or no jalapenos.

This dish is commonly served in Mexico in a naturally gluten-free corn tortilla taco — flour tortillas are largely considered an Americanized product. I topped each taco with diced onions and sliced cilantro.

I used pre-made corn tortillas toasted in a greased frying pan for this recipe, but if you are feeling adventurous you can make homemade corn tortillas in 15 shell quantities by mixing 1 3/ 4 cups masa harina with 11/ 8 cups water, refrigerating the dough for about 30 minutes, then rolling out each tortilla and cooking on a pre-heated pan.

pork green chile

Yield: about 6 servings

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/ 2 pounds cubed pork stew meat or cubed country-style pork meat

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4.5-ounce can diced green chile peppers, drained

3.5-ounce can chopped jalapeno peppers

1/ 2 medium onion, chopped

5 tablespoons tomato sauce

garlic salt to taste

pepper to taste

one Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in cubed pork, and cook until nicely browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, and allow to cool briefly.

two Sprinkle flour over pork. With a wooden spoon, stir pork to coat, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen browned bits. Add chile peppers, jalapenos and onions. Stir in tomato sauce. Season to taste with onion salt, garlic salt, and salt and pepper.

three Return skillet to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove cover, and cook 10 minutes more. Serve in corn tortillas with diced onions and cilantro.

Source: based on an allrecipes.com recipe

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About this series

The Recipe of the Week is a D'lish series that features foods from different cultures and offers home cooks an easy-to-follow, health-conscious recipe. If you end up making the Recipe of the Week, send your photos to jlaxen@stcloudtimes.com, on Twitter @jacoblaxen, or upload at www.facebook.com/sctimesdlish.