In Texas they have a bowl of red, in Tucson I preferred a bowl of green, chili that is, Chili Verde. Chili Verde is what I make here in Boquete Panama. It takes a little work to find all the ingredients in Chiriqui, but for me it is comfort food and worth the effort.

My Chili Verde  does not win any prizes but I like it and it can be done with almost entirely local ingredients. This is not exactly the same as what I prepared for the Buenos Vecinos event, nor is it traditional, but it is my preferred method using what we have available here way south of Arizona.

Boquete Chili Verde con Puerco, the recipe, not the picture, I forgot to take a picture.

Scaled for 8 servings mas o menos

1.o kilo of Carne Lisa, boneless pork, usually from the leg, they say. Cubed in 1 cm cubes. I ground it for the cook off, but cubed is much better.

8 poblano chiles, fresh, usually at Super Baru or Romero, San Mateo in David. You can substitute canned green chiles if you can find them. I buy these when they have them, roast, skin and freeze for when I want them. The level of heat varies a great deal with the local Poblanos but they tend toward mild.  You can kick it up with a couple of chopped Jalapeños which you can usually find in the same places.

1 -2 Tbs lard or if you insist vegetable oil

1 large onion chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1tsp of cumin

4 chopped Culantro leaves (Cilantro is good too)

1 can 15oz of cubed tomatoes, drained or better some blanched, skinned roma tomatoes, remove the seeds and cube.

200 grams mas o menos of tomatillos, chopped fine or pureed, hard to find here, in a pinch use a can of green mexican salsa, I do.

A six pack of Balboa or other lager, don’t waste the dark beer on this, drink it instead.

salt

some flour as needed

some corn meal, I like the Arepas corn meal because I have it in the house.

Ok the fun starts now

You need to fire roast the chilies, here are a few techniques.

1. Using insulated thongs hold them over a gas flame, rotating until charred evenly and then put them into a covered heatproof ceramic or glass container and cover adding them until all are done.

or

2. Put them on a tray under a broiler, turning as needed to char and them,  then put them into a covered heatproof ceramic or glass container and cover adding them until all are done.

Let them sit until cold and the skin will come off easily. Wash and removed stems and seeds.

Chop the chilies and if you have a food processor turn half into a pulp, leave half chopped.

Cookery

Next heat up a heavy dutch oven or a big heavy frying pan with a lid on the stove, add the lard and then the pork chunks. You want to brown the pork so if necessary do it in batches. Remove the pork and add the onions and garlic. Sauté until translucent but not brown. Then add enough flour to absorb the lard and cook a little more to cook the flour.

Return the pork and any juices from the pork. Add the tomatillos, cumin, culantro, the chile both the puree and chopped and one can of beer, less the can of course. Open a second beer for consumption because this is hard work.

Cover and simmer until the pork is falling apart. I like to use a pressure cooker because I hate waiting, usually about 30 minutes of pressure works vs. hours of simmering on a stove and that way I still have some beer left for dinner. Or you can use a crock pot and lament the long term delay in eating.

Add salt to taste and enough corn meal to thicken the sauce. The corn meal adds a pleasing texture. The beer adds flavor and drinking it makes the entire experience worth doing, over and over.

Break out the tortillas or serve over rice and enjoy with any remaining beer.

Dorado is a great firm fish, also known up north as Mahi Mahi it is splendid to see fresh out of the ocean. the photo below is of Mayra’s daughter Karina on a fishing trip we made some time ago. This Dorado was assimilated a long time in the past, but memories still stir desires to find more like it.

Todays recipe is made from a Dorado I bought whole from the back of a pickup in Bajo Boquete, it was $2 a pound, whole. I asked the vendor to fillet it and he had broke out the knife and board.

If you do not know how to pick a fresh fish from a vendor this old post has some hints. LINK

I took the filets and the skeleton and head too. They made for a great fish soup, but that is another story.

Thai Curried Dorado with Langostinos in a clam and curry sauce

Ingredients

Dorado filetes

Cleaned langosintos

cleaned, rewashed almejas, clams

Red and green bell peppers, Julianne

Thai yellow curry

cooking oil and butter

flour

Coconut milk

cooked rice as a side is perfect

I found the curry in Panama City at Foodie in Bar Harbor center, Patilla

I like to dust the fillet with some flour to give it a crisp exterior

In a heavy frying pan melt some butter and add some olive oil. The butter helps browning, and pan fry the fish until it is done.

At the same time mas o menos, put 1 tbs of cooking oil into a heavy saucepan. Heat at medium and add some of the chili paste. How much is a guess base upon your heat level lust. I like a bit less than one tablespoon. Stir fry the chili until it is aromatic, not too long.

Add about half a cup of the coconut milk and stir until it boils. Add the langostinos and the clams. Then cook about five minutes or until the langostinos are turning pink. Add the vegetables and and the rest of the coconut milk. Bring back to a boil and give them about another five to seven minutes at a simmer. You want them cooked through but not rubber.

Plate the fish and rice, put the langostinos on the fish and pour the clam curry sauce over the fillet. Then savor the aroma. Sake is a great accompaniment and you can now get in at Romero.