Southwest Tastes

I sure do miss my green chili and anyone who has lived near a part of the States that can get fresh roasted Hatch Green Chili and then moved away from that area will understand what I mean when I say that I miss my green chili.
Yesterday Arthur was looking through one of my cookbooks and he saw a picture of some food and he said "Let's make this."  Sweat-Hot Chili on page 33 from Gary Darling the chef at Aunt Chilada's in Phoenix, Arizona.  One of the ingredients for this recipe is a Green Chili Sauce, and lucky for us the cookbook provides a recipe to make your own homemade Green Chili Sauce (page 42).

 Green Chili Sauce
            (Makes 2 Quarts)
2       Quarts beef Stock
1 1/2  Yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped (we used 1 red)
2         Green bell pepper's, seeded and chopped
6         Green Onions, chopped
1          Medium Yellow Onion, peeled and chopped 
1 pound Green Chilies, roasted, seeded and cut into strips 
1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 Tbs. Salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
3          Tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

3/4 cup lard (we used butter)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Bring the stock to a boil and add all the ingredients except the lard and flour.  Simmer the sauce, uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Melt the lard (butter) in a skillet over medium heat and, when hot, whisk in the flour, a few tablespoons at a time.  Stir the roux until it reaches an almond color, then whisk it into the sauce.  Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes to thicken.
Note:  This sauce can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days, and will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Green Chili Sauce in Sweat-Hot Chili Recipe over Rice.

I wish I could say that the recipe was a success and Arthur thinks that it was, but once you have real green chili and I mean Hatch green chili, then everything else doesn't compare.  We made the Sweat Hot Chili recipe with it even though this recipe also calls for Jalapeno peppers and we don't have those here I just substituted a little hot red pepper straight from Katerina's garden.

Sweat-Hot Chili 
            (Serves 4)

3 Tbs.  Lard (I used olive oil)
10 ounces beef sirloin, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 3/4 cup Green chili Sauce (made above)
4 Jalapeno chilies, seeded and cut into thin rings (I used 2 small red peppers, whole)

Garnish
1/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
4 Tbs. chopped green onions, white part only
4 cilantro sprigs

 In a heavy saucepan (I used my non-stick skillet), heat the lard or olive oil over medium high heat.  When hot, add the cubed beef and brown on all sides.  Add the green chili sauce and jalapeno rings to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with a sprinkling of the two cheeses, green onions, and a sprig of cilantro.  
We didn't have the 2 cheeses listed above but I am sure it will be no problem finding them in the States and cilantro, well I could grow my own, but we have parsley growing wild in the garden so I just used that.

We had enough sauce that the next day I poured it over pasta and there was still leftover's so that I put the rest in the freezer and will probably use it to make enchilada's or smothered burritos.
Southwest Tastes is a great cookbook, I love the way they interview the chefs at different restaurants from around the Southwest, some recipes are hard to duplicate (does anyone really use lard anymore), especially here in Greece, but I know that I could open this book up every day for a year and find a new recipe to try.