the verde verdict

A few weeks ago Bill and I were watching "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives". In that particular episode, they made pork chili verde. It looked amazing, so I did a quick search and found a similar recipe. I made notes to make it like they did in the restaurant featured. The other night I decided to give it a try.

I used two poblano chilies, two jalapeños, and several tomatillos.

After cutting out the seeds, I threw all of those into the food processor along with garlic, salt and pepper.

During my processing, the phone rang. As Wedding Coordinator for the church, I am prone to answering the phone whenever I am home. Since I was busy, Bill answered. It was a bride, so I took the call.

At some point, I touched my lips.

Despite the fact that I had washed my hands several times while cutting the peppers, there was still oil on my hands and I transferred that to my lips.

They were on fire.

Holy moly, I have never experienced anything like that before.

Bill suggested I pour a glass of milk and stick my lips in it.

I did.

That did not help.

I resorted to running the water in the sink and sticking my lips under that to wash away the oil.

That worked.

I bet it looked ridiculous.

The chili was not ridiculous.

It wasn't even that hot. After I processed the peppers, I added them to a pot with pork tenderloin chopped into cubes. I added four cups of water (I could have used chicken stock) and boiled it for about an hour. I made long-grain, organic rice in that time. The chili mellowed out and was a yummy alternative to Bill's famous chili.

I must be on a green streak... I just realized along with chili verde, I also made broccoli and cheese soup. That too was a lovely shade of green.

The other dishes I made happened to have red (tomatoes) in them. I must be in the festive, holiday mood!