Bob remembers when he was a little boy at a Hatkoff cookout at 305 New Scotland Avenue and the grown-ups asked if he wanted his hamburger rare or well done. He said "rare" thinking that meant dark all the way through. So they brought him one that was just a little bit pink inside (this was in the days when everybody cooked meat until it was thoroughly cooked through and dry). He was horrified at seeing the pink and said “No No, I want it rare!” So they kept bringing pinker and pinker beef and he finally gave up. Later in life he did a complete turnabout so that he only liked hamburgers burned on the outside but truely raw on the inside. So it's no surprise that many of his recipes are about grilled meat.

In the Army Reserve, Bob was a cook and learned to bake dozens of pies at once (although he never got the knack of baking one at a time). As an army cook he is remembered far and wide for his famous made-from-scratch hot cross buns. Ask him to tell you the story some time. Anyway he has done very little baking since those days.

Early in his career as a lawyer, he became a gourmet cook, throwing together extravagant and exotic meals with dishes like Lobster Cantonese. After spending most of his adult life in Phoenix, Arizona, his cooking and grilling took on a Southwestern character with plenty of green chilies, many of which he grew in his own garden.  His most mature recent work occurs at the grill or with southwestern meat dishes, and it is these recipes he shares here.

1. Bob’s Green Chile
   

2. more to come...

Most easterners know chile as a meaty, beany dish made with tomatoes and chile peppers. It may be very spicy or mild or garlicy or not and it may be a vegetarian dish based mainly on beans and tomatoes. There are as many recipes for chile as there are chile makers.

This version doesn't use tomatoes or beans; it relies on pork and lots of green chiles. It doesn't have to simmer for days, because Bob likes the flavors and textures of the chile and meat to complement each other but be distinct.

Bob doesn't have any written recipe, so I watched him make it one morning and this is what he did and said. It turned out to be VERY spicy, so use that as a standard when you make changes in the kinds and amounts of green chiles you use.  This one is made with good frozen green chiles, but if you grow your own or can get good fresh chiles, by all means use them.

2 lbs. nice pork (Bob used a pork roast) cut into smaller than 1" cubes

5 13oz packs of frozen chopped green roasted New Mexican chiles*
(Bob used 2 labeled "extra hot" and 3 labeled "mild")

flour
canola oil
sweet onions
chicken broth
cumin (lots of it)
garlic
salt and garlic salt

Dredge the pork in the flour and lots of cumin (I think Bob used around 1/3 cup to start with).

Brown the meat in oil. Don't put all the pork in at once unless you have a huge pan. Put some in, let it brown, and take it out to put more in. When you take the meat out of the pan, let it drain on some paper towels in a bowl until it is time to add it to the chiles.

Meanwhile, in a deep Dutch oven type pan, saute the sweet onions until clear, add minced garlic, then add all the green chiles and chicken broth. If you like it soupy, add more broth and if you like it thick add less broth. He used just a soup can full for this recipe, because the prepared chopped chiles provided a lot of liquid.

Bring the chile and onion mixture back to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.

About 15 minutes before serving, add the pork to the chile mixture and cook it just long enough for the pork to get cooked through.**

Season to taste with more salt and cumin as you go along.

If you need to thicken it when you finish, add some flour (like the einbren for the Bruno soups).

1. *Bob said there are web sites where you can order very good chiles. When I saw him make it, he just got some in the grocery store (of course we were in Phoenix). It was made and distributed by El Encanto, Inc. Albuquerque, NM (1-800-888-7336)
   

**If you put the pork in earlier and cook it a long time, the pork flavor takes over and you lose the distinct flavor of green chiles. Sometimes Bob doesn't add the pork to the chile to cook, he wraps it up and roasts it in the oven and adds it just before serving. That way, you end up with small pieces of meat in the chile.

If you cook the meat with the chiles a long time, it breaks up and kinds of disappears. Some people prefer it that way, so if you do, then let it all simmer together until that happens.

Bob is a golfer, and he and Carol annually host a Chile Cook Off at their home while the golf fans watch the big screen TV and keep track of Masters Tournament in August, GA.  One year I was one of the chile judges: 15 chile entries: green, all veg, different kinds of meat, some scalding hot, some with more subtle variety of peppers and interesting choices of beans--all delicious.  What fun!