Wish I had time for just one more bowl of chili.

-Alleged dying words of Kit Carson, rancher, soldier, fur trapper, guide, chili master.

There are times when the craving for good green chili is simply overwhelming. I’d bet Kit Carson might have even been thinking about a big, steaming bowl of ‘New Mexico Green’ when he uttered the (in)famous last words above.

Wine aficionados huff and puff about the terroir of fine wines, that special, sometimes almost ethereal uniqueness that combinations of plant genetics, geography, geology and climate (maybe even microclimates) produce in certain grapes.

Well hells bells, without a doubt that same terroir principal applies to the magnificent green chile lovingly grown in New Mexico.

Being profound chili heads, we’ve grown over a dozen chile varieties from seed in Montana, nursing them in basement heated and lighted grow racks, starting them in the middle of winter in early February and transplanting them with care in May. They were passably good, most of them, but still couldn’t/ can’t hold a candle to the bushel or two we ship up from New Mexico to roast and freeze every year.

Now and again the urge for a big bowl of green chili just gets to be too much to resist, and with winter still hanging around for most of the country this week (we even have snow on the ground in the South Sound today), today’s I Miss New Mexico Green Chili will hit the spot.

If there are no home-roasted Hatch chilies in your freezer today, canned green chilies will work damned well.

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. lean beef, 1/2 inch cubes
1 lb. lean pork, 1/2 inch cubes
1 large sweet onion, coarse chop
1-2 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded and diced small
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp. flour
4 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes (Rotel is our call here)
4 7-oz. cans diced green chiles (even better with 2 lb. green chiles, fresh roasted and diced)
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. Mexican oregano
1-3 tbsp. cilantro, fresh, chopped

Brown the meats. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat and brown both the meats, adding the onions and serranos after three or four minutes, then the garlic powder, flour and fresh ground pepper. Mix the flour in well and cook for another minute or two.

Make it a chili. Now add the chicken broth, green chiles and tomatoes; add water or beer if you need more fluids to cover the meat. Stir in the cumin, seasoned salt, oregano and cilantro. Bring to a slow boil, reduce to a simmer and cover.

This needs to simmer for at least an hour, though we’ve sometimes let it rumble along for an afternoon to really pull the flavors together and let the meat break down even more. Don’t let it get too dry if you simmer for an hour or more.

Serve it up. Green chili is made to be poured over just about any and everything, though is great in a big bowl with a stack of steaming, fresh tortillas and a cold adult beverage.

Enjoy.