CHILE VERDE We all know that chili is thick, rich, spicy, meaty, complex, and red, right? But what about green chili, that equally complex, fresher, porkier cousin common to many Southwestern states? The most basic and hardcore version of New Mexico chile verde is made by simmering rich cuts of pork in a thick stew of roasted Hatch chiles, onions, garlic, salt, and little else As the meat is braised until tender, the broth picks up the flavor of the melted pork fat along with the uniquely sweet and bitter taste of the chiles, made smoky from roasting until nearly blackened Grown in the town of Hatch (population: ~2,000) in southern New Mexico, these chiles provide a complex backbone that few other single ingredients can I don’t spend much time in New Mexico—I have a thing about heat and dream catchers—and fresh Hatch chilies rarely make their way to the Northeast, which leaves me with canned or frozen chiles But neither of these two roast particularly well, and that smoky char is the best part of green chili Luckily, I also don’t place much credence in authenticity I’ll settle for delicious I live far enough away from New Mexico that, hopefully, I’ll be able to see the dust trail roused up by the violently inclined green chili fanatics approaching and beat a hasty retreat The Peppers It’s certainly possible to get some form of Hatch chile to your door, no matter where you live The internet is rife with Hatch chile distributors, promising to ship you authentic canned or frozen peppers straight from the source The problem with these is not really a texture or flavor problem —it’s that canned or previously frozen chiles are downright impossible to char properly before stewing them They’re simply too wet And preroasted canned or frozen chiles don’t have the deep flavor of home-roasted chilies, which left me with one option: find some suitable substitutes Poblano peppers were an obvious place to start They’re readily available, and they have a deep, earthy flavor To add a bit of brightness and some of those characteristic bitter notes to the mix, I also added a few cubanelle peppers A couple of jalapeños, with their heat and grassiness, rounded things out If you want to go for full-on smoke, you can ...your door, no matter where you live The internet is rife with Hatch chile distributors, promising to ship you authentic canned or frozen peppers straight from the source The problem with these is not really a texture or flavor problem... —it’s that canned or previously frozen chiles are downright impossible to char properly before stewing them They’re simply too wet And preroasted canned or frozen chiles don’t have the deep flavor of home- roasted chilies, which left me with one option: find some suitable substitutes... an obvious place to start They’re readily available, and they have a deep, earthy flavor To add a bit of brightness and some of those characteristic bitter notes to the mix, I also added a few