Recipe: Pork and Tomatillo Chili

Note: This recipe from a story on chili-style dishes from around the world is one of those things that people just can’t stop eating; friends have been known to have thirds and then smile with slight embarrassment and serve themselves some more. Part of its appeal is that it smells so good while it’s cooking -- the combination of garlic, pork, orange juice and dark beer is extremely potent. It’s good served over rice or in bowls with corn bread on the side.

1 cup orange juice

1 (12-ounce) bottle dark beer

1 pound tomatillos, papery husks removed, quartered

1/4 cup peanut oil

1 head garlic, peeled

2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Salt, pepper

2 large onions, thinly sliced

2 pounds Roma tomatoes, chopped

3 jalapeno chiles, diced

1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper, or more to taste

1 bunch cilantro, leaves chopped

1 (1-pound) can black beans with liquid or 1 1/2 cups homemade cooked black beans with liquid

Cooked rice

1/2 avocado, peeled and sliced

Cilantro sprigs

Lime Sour Cream

Combine orange juice, beer and tomatillos in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat about 20 minutes. Set aside.

Heat peanut oil in large skillet. Add garlic cloves and cook 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 of cubed pork and season to taste with salt and pepper. Brown pork on all sides, remove pork with slotted spoon and add to tomatillos. Cook remaining pork in skillet. Remove pork and garlic and add to tomatillos.

Add onions and lightly brown. Add to tomatillo and pork mixture. Mix in tomatoes, jalapeno chiles, crushed red pepper and cilantro. Cover and cook over low heat 2 hours. (Chili can also be cooked in 350-degree oven 2 hours.) Add beans. Cook, uncovered, 1/2 hour more. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serve over rice, garnished with sliced avocado, sprigs of cilantro and Lime Sour Cream. Makes 6 servings.

Each serving, without rice, contains about: 547 calories; 171 mg sodium; 86 mg cholesterol; 25 grams fat; 47 grams carbohydrates; 34 grams protein; 3.74 grams fiber.

Lime Sour Cream

1/2 cup sour cream

Grated zest and juice of 1 lime

Combine sour cream with lime zest and juice. Stir until blended. Makes 1/2 cup.