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| Pork with Mild Green Chiles |
Those of you that follow my blog have heard me mention the lack of fresh spicy chiles in Prague. But what they lack in fresh spicy peppers they make up with a fantastic variety of mild and sweet peppers. Peppers like banana peppers, wax pepper, Kapia or pimento peppers, and a spicy green Slovak variety. As a Mexican I cannot live without my chiles, I need a little kick in my food. Over the past couple of years more and more exotic products are to be found here. On some rare occasions I have found fresh Jalapeños and fresh cayenne chiles. In the last month I was lucky enough to have found an online shop selling a variety of Mexican ingredients. It is called Viva La Vida, so if you live in Czech Republic look them up. Can’t tell you how happy that has made both my husband and I. Even though more authentic ingredients are becoming available I have to admit that experimenting with local ingredients and coming up with CzechXican salsas has been quite fun.
Today I have a super simple recipe that incorporates a hint of flavors from Mexican cuisine with a bit of Czech. But what is so fantastic about this simple recipe is that it can be made with Pork, Chicken, Turkey, Beef or even chorizo. It can be served on top of white or Mexican rice, as a taco filling or used as any type of Mexican filling you may need. Wait there’s more great reasons why you need to make this dish, it’s healthy and low in fat. The chorizo would be the fattier choice but if you use a lean cut of meat it will stay low in fat. So you’ll get a very flavorful dish lower in calories. Now that summer is here most of us are looking to cook and eat lighter meals that wont expand the waistline nor leave you feeling bloated afterwords. This is one of those dishes. Okay I think I’ve convinced you so now I’ll give you the recipe. Buen Provecho!!
Ingredients:
400 g or 14 oz. pork medallions or pork tenderloin, sliced in thin strips
4 green mild chiles, stemmed and seeds removed and sliced into rounds*
1 green cayenne chile or any hot green chile, finely chopped **
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
1 small tomato, finely chopped
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. olive oil or vegetable oil
white rice to serve
corn tortillas, optional
cilantro to garnish
* You can use banana, wax or Cubanelle chiles, Do not use bell peppers.
** For a milder version remove the seeds and center vein.
1. Heat 1 tbsp. of the oil, once warm saute the onion until soft and translucent. Add the round green cubanelle chiles and hot green chiles to the pan, saute for 2 minutes. Next add the minced garlic, sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper to the vegetables and stir to combine. Saute another 2 minutes, then remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
2. In the same pan heat the remaining 1 tbsp. of oil, add the pork to the pan and sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper to taste. Cover the pan and fry until the pork strips are cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes. Drain any fat or liquid in the pan and add the previously cooked vegetables back to the pan. Next add the ground cumin seed and chopped tomato to the pan. Stir to combine all ingredients well. Cover and continue cooking until the cubanel chiles have soften.
Oh Nancy, you have no idea how much I miss my favorite peppers red Kapia!!! they're very flavorful, and because of their shape they're easy to stuff with meat, you can see what I mean in the photo for YBR :)
I love you CzechXican for its flexibility regarding meat, I think it's awesome and it definitely looks tasty too!!! XoXo
CzechXican…very cute :) I love chilies as well and grow a few types in my garden and then dry most of them. This is a wonderful dish full of flavor, gorgeous :)
Hope you have a wonderful week…Hugs!
@Alina, Oh red Kapia are one of my favorite peppers. I will miss those greatly once I no longer live in Prague. I will look at your YBR photo again :)
@Alisha, Thanks sweetie :) That is so great that you also grow your own chiles. Do you have a small farm in your yard :) You too have a great week and hugs back.
:)) I love name of your dish..funny and so true:)
Great job incorporating little bit of your traditional flare and bit of Czech local Ingredients..wonderful dish!
I've never seen this kind of chilli before only those in Vietnam look quite similar and it is very spicy but your dish definitely looks very delicious.
CzechXican – Nancy I LOVE it! Great pork dish.
I am trying to grow some chili peppers as they only seem to come in two varieties here – red or green :)
Me too! I can't live without chilies! The more the better :)
A new one on me will have to try and find these peppers I am a huge fan of peppers this sounds great!
@Sandra, Hehe, Thanks :)
@Ann, Thank you Ann! You could try using banana or wax peppers for a good substitute.
@Hester, Thanks! That's great I hope you get a big beautiful harvest :)
@Tanantha, My fellow chile head :) Yes!
@Claudia, I hope you find them and I think you'll like the recipe too :)
Wow! Looks great! Thanks for another great recipe.
I love your CzechXican dish! If I get to eat that dish and get a slim waistline then I'm all in!! Looks delicious.
I enjoy mild peppers – like the ones you have readily available. I can understand missing the hotter ones, tho. Your dish looks amazing and the pictures are superb! Buzzed it!
I was so curious as to what CzechXican was and it made me smile! Bravo to you for your creativity and making do with what you don't have. I just harvested a bunch of banana and jalapeno peppers from the garden and I think this is a perfect way to use them. Many thanks for the recipe!
Absolutely lovely!
Great clicks :). I use jalapeno peppers the most, but wouldn't say it's necessarily my favorite. It's versatile though.
I have spicy chiles in my garden and the sweet Italian kind that I love to chop up and put in salads. I couldn't leave without my chilis either, also love the red chili flakes. Your dish looks gorgeous, beautiful job in every way;-)
Great pork recipe! Anything with chilles is a win with my husband!
Pork and green chilly is what i need today. It's raining and that heat would be so perfect. Gorgeous click.
ee hee czechxican! i love it! these look really yummy, i'm always looking for good pork recipes and they are not always easy to find!
Chilles is one of the ingredient that I really love. Whenever It is included on my dish it bring different aroma in the food.
I totally agree about needing some spice in your life. I would feel so lost without my chilies. This dish looks wonderful. Something I would truly enjoy eating. Congrats on making Top 9 on Foodbuzz. Great job.
What a wonderful and creative recipe. It all sounds so fresh and your picture screams try me. Congratulations on making the top 9!
Omg, Czechxican, that is brilliant! You better copyright your new cuisine asap!! I looove hot peppers, and one of my favorite hot sauces is Matouk's mango and Scotch bonnet sauce. Talk about a kick. Love it on fish.
This looks great, Nancy. I've tried a few similar dishes, but mine always come out looking like mush. Thanks for another fine recipe!
I love it, CzechXican!! you have invented a whole new style of cooking and that pork sure looks like it benefited from it!
Congrats on the top 9 today!
Looks delicious and, as always, I love the photos. As for the chilis, can you grow them where you are? Window box perhaps?
CzechXican! :D This rocked my world! :D
Thank you everyone!!
@Ruby, I suppose I could I just manage to kill all my plants, hehe :)
Very cool fusion!
I giggled at CzechXican! Love it! And this dish does sound great too. I haven't had many great chiles lately but a friend just brought me some from her garden and I can't wait to try them.