I met Mike 'Chico' Garcia years ago via Austin radio personality Ken Milam. He and his bride, Helen, spent a few days at LL,2, working on some Pond Boss videos for our YouTube channel. I mentioned we needed a recipe, and a broad smile drifted across his face. "How about my Grandmother Raquel Jaramillo's 150-year-old family Green Chili sauce recipe"? I felt the smile drift across my face. Chico, who grew up in New Mexico, said, "We eat this at every meal. It goes with beans. Splash some on a tortilla, with beans, roll it up and eat it". He said his family eats it on anything. It goes in enchilada's, on hamburgers, eggs at breakfast, and in stew. Chico entered this recipe in the official HEB Central Market recipe contest. The only one to beat Chico was a restaurant owner who submitted a green chili margarita recipe. Chico said it was, "Not-so-good." But this recipe could become a staple here at our house. I just finished a pulled pork recipe and it's excellent with that pulled pork as a main dish...rolled in a corn tortilla.
Ingredients:
• 1 lb. ground meat (Venison or beef is best)
• 1 red tomatoes
• Green onions
• Pressed/crushed garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 can Diced tomatoes or Rotel diced tomatoes
• 8-12 oz Green Hatch Chili peppers (buy them already peeled and diced from most grocery stores in the freezer section.)
If you can get fresh peppers, use them, but roast and blister the skin until it's charred, let them cool under a cloth so their steam cooks them, then peel by hand. Remove skin and seeds. Dice and add to recipe.
Brown the ground meat, salted and peppered to your liking, in skillet. We used my cast iron skillet. Dice the green onions (3-4) and add them to the browned meat. Reduce to medium heat and sizzle until opaque. Steam is rising, add canned tomatoes, chopped red tomato, and chili peppers and stir as it reduces and steam escapes. Mix flour into a slurry with a little bit of water, and slowly add to the cooking mix. Add garlic last. Simmer and reduce to your desired thickness, depending how you want to use it. If you want it thinner, add water or chicken broth.
