Shortcut Chili Verde with Pork

Now that it actually feels like Fall in Los Angeles, it's time for some nice and easy crock pot recipes.  I love/hate my crock pot.  My mom NEVER used one.  I didn't even know what they existed until I was in college and living in my first apartment.  My roommate had one and the first time she pulled it out, I stood there mouth agape while she described the concept of slow cooking.  Mind.  Blown.

I love my crock pot because it's so super convenient to throw a bunch of stuff in there, plug it in, walk away for 10 to 12 HOURS and come home to a wonderful, hot meal.  I mean what kind of cooking sorcery is this?!

I hate my crock pot because I'm always convinced my house is going to burn down while I'm gone.  For the record, it's never happened, but it doesn't stop me from having anxiety about it none the less.  I mean what kind of cooking sorcery is this?!

If you can get over the fear of your crock pot malfunctioning and burning down your house, I find that crock pots are a wonderful way to cook stews and even bake potatoes!  Yes!  Potatoes!!!  (insert sorcery quote here.)  This is a quick and easy recipe for chili verde.  This isn't a chili that has beans in it.  This is a spicy green chili stew with pork (and beef if you want).  This is also a short cut version.  The real Chili Verde recipe involves roasting jalapeno chiles, garlic, and tomatillos.  It's wonderful over rice or even just as a burrito filling.

You will need:
1 28 oz can of La Palma Green Enchilada sauce
1 medium onion
3 to 4 small potatoes
1to 2 pound(s) of pork shoulder or butt
crushed garlic
seasoning salt
pepper
oregano

I'm going to show you the "throw it all in the crock pot" method.  IF you have time, giving your pork and onions a quick saute just to brown the meat will help with making this even more delicious.  I recommend doing it.  If you don't have time,  NO worries.  You can just throw it all in and the magic will still happen.  

Normally, you usually find just pork in Chili Verde.  But I realized I only had half a pound of pork butt in my freezer so I used another half pound of stew beef to make a pound.  You can throw the meat into your crock pot frozen, but I had defrosted my beef and pork ahead of time.  Feel free to use more meat if you like this meatier.  I've used up to 3 pounds of pork in this recipe and it was fine.

I like to layer my meat on the bottom of my crock pot.  

I like to use 3 to 4 small to medium potatoes.  I never met a potato I didn't like....

 

You can chop your potatoes into bite sized pieces or a bit larger if that's how you like them.  Since we're using a crock pot, no matter what size you choose they will cook perfectly.

 Layer them on top of your meat in your crockpot.

 

I chop my onion into small pieces and throw them into my crock pot too.

At this point, you can use salt or seasoning salt to season.

 

I also add a good amount of course ground pepper. 

 

Then I add a heaping tablespoon of fresh, chopped garlic.  You can also use garlic powder.  As much or as little as you'd like. 

 

 Las Palmas makes a wonderful green chile enchilada sauce.  This sauce ranges from mild to hot.  I use the hot.  It's pretty hot so when in doubt, use the mild or medium.  This is the larger 28 ounce sized can. 

  

I open and pour the entire can into the crock pot. MMMMM.

 

I threw in a healthy handful of oregano just for kicks.

Give it a little stir just to show it you care, and that's it!

 

Put the lid on, turn it on.  My crockpot has different settings.  I used the low for 10 hours setting.  It all works though so set according to how much time you have.

 

I can home to this cooking sorcery....I wish you could smellllll it.

 

I blopped in about 2 heaping tablespoons of sour cream to make it a little creamy.

 

Then it looked like this and it's ready for eating.

 

I like to serve it over hot rice with some cheese and cilantro.  

 

You can also just eat it in a bowl with tortillas or tortilla chips.  Remember, feel free to add more meat if you want it meatier.  Experiment with different veggies too if you want.  Enjoy!