Chile Verde Pork Quesadillas

I am lucky to live in an area with such a wide availability of ingredients used in tex-mex recipes.  My local grocery store, for example, has a 4 ft deep box full of tomatillos, tomatoes, and every pepper both fresh and dried on display.  Ever since I tried salsa verde I have been a huge fan of its sweet and sour flavor and how good it tastes on pork, chicken, fish, etc.  Because of its versatility I can enjoy it on a lot of different Mexican dishes. My favorite cut of meat lately has been pork shoulder, which cooks so nicely on low heat over a few hours.  I buy a larger weight and double my salsa verde recipe so I can have lots of leftovers too! The quesadillas were super tasty and not too difficult to throw together.

Chile Verde Pork Quesadillas
(Makes 12+ servings)
Printable Version

Ingredients:

• 1 9 lb. pork butt/shoulder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 tbsp cumin
• 3 tbsp ancho chile powder
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 3 tbsp oregano
• 3 lb tomatillos, husked and quartered
• 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2 serrano peppers, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 2 Anaheim chiles, halved
• 2 poblano chiles, halved
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lime, juice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 bunch cilantro leaves, cleaned and chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• Pico de Gallo (optional)
• Guacamole (optional)
• Monterey jack or queso fresco
• cilantro (for garnish)
• tortillas

Directions:

1. Place the tomatillos, poblano, anaheim, serrano, and jalapeno peppers on a baking sheet with the peppers’ skin side up.
2. Broil the tomatillos, and peppers until the skins are slightly blackened and peeling.
3. Combine the roasted peppers, chopped onion, garlic, 2 tsp cumin, paprika, cilantro, honey, and lime in a blender and puree.
4. Trim the excess fat from the pork and rub the olive oil onto the meat.
5. Place in a pot and rub in the salt, cumin, ancho chile powder, paprika and oregano.
6. Add half of the salsa verde onto the pork and pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Save the rest of the salsa verde for dressing the quesadilla.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer until the pork reaches 160 degrees, about 4 1/2 hours.
8. Take the pork out of the liquid and let cool.  Shred the meat with a fork.
9. Bake the shredded pork in a preheated 400F oven until lightly brown and crispy.
10. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer to reduce for about 10 minutes.
11. Mix the pork with some of the liquid and place on half of a tortilla and add the cheese.
12. Heat some olive oil or butter in a saute pan and place the tortilla in the pan.  Flip the tortilla with a spatula after 2-4 minutes to brown on both sides.
13. Slice and garnish with the rest of the salsa verde.