Red and Green Pork Kebabs {Guest Post}

Today, I am enjoying some time away with my husband!  I asked Justine from The Lone Home Ranger to write a post for me.  She is an urban homesteader, a minimalist mom, a writer, and a doula-in-training living with her husband and two young girls in Arlington, Massachusetts. She is passionate about sustainable living, health, frugality, and her quest for real food and family heirloom recipes.  Take it away Justine!

Red or green?

This is a question you will immediately understand if you have ever visited New Mexico. None the wiser as to what she was asking or how to answer, I stared blankly at the first waitress to lay this question on me. Turns out they are asking whether you want green pepper sauce or red pepper sauce, and there are natives firmly entrenched in either camp.

On my husband’s most recent trip to NM a few years back, he brought home a giant bag of dried hatch chiles, and we have been feasting on them ever since. Their name comes from the town where they are grown, and they are a regional favorite. It used to be hard to get them elsewhere, but now you can find farms that sell them online. Their spice is mild to medium; the heat varies with each pepper, and their flavor is earthy and smoky. This sauce is perfect for grilled meat, to top tacos, or to add subtle heat to soups and stews.

Hatch Chile Sauce

12 dried hatch chiles

3 to 4 cups of water

2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbs. oil

1 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. dried oregano

Rinse chiles, break off the tops, and dump out the seeds. Put the pods and water in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add garlic and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until chiles are soft.

Put the chiles and garlic in a blender, setting aside cooking liquid. Add enough liquid to blend chiles into a paste. Meanwhile, make a roux by browning flour in oil. The roux is done when the raw flour smell is gone and flour smells nutty.

Add chile paste to roux and stir until combined.

Add cooking liquid gradually until the sauce is the consistency you desire. Add salt and oregano and cook while stirring occasionally for approximately 10 minutes.

Red & Green Pork Kebabs

1/2 c. hatch chile sauce

1 c. chopped fresh cilantro

drizzled olive oil, about 1/4 c.

1 lb. pork shoulder pieces, cut into 1 in. chunks

Combine first two ingredients in a blender and drizzle olive oil until sauce is thin enough to cover pork. Marinate pork for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

Add whatever you’d like between pork (we like Vidalia onion slices) and grill. Save some marinade for a dipping sauce.

Thanks Justine!  Check out her blog at www.thelonehomeranger.com and have a great day!