Recipe of the Day : Chili Verde

I love to teach women how to can.  I feel that canning is becoming a lost art.

I read the "Little House on the Prarie" Books as a young girl.  They changed me forever.  I always loved the description of "House in the Big Woods" at harvest time.  The rich description of filling the pantry, even killing the pig.  It made me want to eat a roasted pig's tail and play with a balloon made of a pigs bladder.  I did try head cheese once and will pass on eating that again.

Pressure canning especially seems to scare a lot of women.  I remember the first time I pressure canned.  I did green beans from my garden.  I added 1 tbl of lemon juice to each quart hoping to make it acidic enough that if I did the pressure canning wrong, the acid would save my family.  They came out perfectly.  AND, I can not process green beans without the addition of lemon juice...it adds a brightness to the beans.  You can't tell they have lemon in there, you just know something is special about them.  This from a woman who HATES pickles unless they are bread and butter pickles.

I think that teaching someone to make a soup in a jar is an easy process.  I like to layer the ingredients in my jars and then pour hot liquid over the contents.  This way all of the jars are evenly filled...one jar does not have more meat/veggies than another one.  Also by layering the jars, you wind up making exactly the number you want to...I usually do this in batches of 7 jars since that is how many fit in my pressure canner. 

I have found that I need to precook the veggies if they are the kind that will reduce a lot during cooking, like cabbage and onions.  I also have found that if I add a little meat base ot the cooking process of these veggies, they taste a lot better.  Cabbage tends to be a little bitter.  However, if you precook it with the chicken base, it is very rich and buttery and does not get bitter when you pressure can it.


Here are the directions for pints. If you want quarts, just double the recipe!


One note about the meat...if you want the meat to fall apart to shreds, use raw meat. If you want it to stay in chunks, sear it first. The searing makes the meat stay together. A little trick I learned. My family like seeing the chunks so I always sear my meat first.


In each pint add:


1 cup pork chunks (or boneless, skinless chicken chunks)

1/4 cup chopped green chilis or a couple of whole ones
1/4 cup diced tomatoes or a couple of whole ones
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 cup finely diced raw onion
1/2 tsp chicken base (NOT Boullion, I buy Tone's Chicken Base at Sams)
1/2 tsp chili powder


You can also add more chilis (habeneros or jalapenos) to increase the heat. Soup is always a really forgiving recipe.


Fill jar with boiling water. I just pour it in from my tea kettle.  Wipe rims and place clean lids on tightening the bands by hand to just tight.


Process according to your altitude for meat. 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts.

One note here...start your canner on medium heat instead of high.  If you bring it up too quick to high heat, you could possibly loose a lot of liquid from your jars.  It is still fine, as long as the jars seal...it just looks bad.  Remember to let the steam escape for 10 minutes before putting the weight on.  You start timing when the weight is put on.


ALTITUDE CHART FOR CANNING MEAT DIAL GAUGE CANNER  (this is from the Presto website)


Pints and Quarts WEIGHTED GAUGE CANNER


                              Pints        Quarts


1,001 – 2,000 ft. 11 lbs.      15 lbs.


2,001 – 4,000 ft. 12 lbs.       15 lbs.


4,001 – 6,000 ft. 13 lbs.       15 lbs.


6,001 – 8,000 ft. 14 lbs.       15 lbs.

When the time is up, simply turn off the heat and wait to remove the weight until the canner has come to zero pressure on its own.  Removing the weight too soon will also result in excess loss of liquid from the jars.


WHEN READY TO SERVE...add a couple of TBL of either Wondra Flour or Cornstarch to thicken. Bring to a boil...ENJOY! 

This is really good to smother bean burritos with.  Just fill a flour tortilla with refried beans and smother with chili verde and some fresh chopped onions.  Some people will add cheese and sour cream.  Gringos!   LOL

I also love it over eggs for breakfast along with rice and beans and tortillas.

chat later,

Kathy