Ingredients
The ingredients for this come in three parts, which correspond to the three parts of cooking.
Pork Butt:
- 2T sea salt
- 1 shot bourbon
- 1 shot maple syrup
- 1t ancho powder
- 1/2t chipotle powder
- 2T dry oregano
Sauce:
- 1.5 lbs tomatillos
- 3 jalapenos or to taste
- 6 mini sweet peppers
- about 1/2 bunch of cilantro
- about 2-3 cups chicken broth
Onion part:
- 1 red onion
- 20oz canned butter beans, drained
- 1/2 cup reserved pork butt liquid
- 1T ground garlic
Make Pork Butt:
Mix all pork butt ingredients (except the butt) into a sludge. Put pork butt in snug-fitting crockpot and pour sludge over butt, turning once to make sure it’s covered. Put the lid on the crockpot and cook on high for 30 minutes, then low for 5 hours or until the fascia melt. It is better to slightly undercook than slightly overcook the butt.
When the butt is done, drain it and reserve the liquid. Pull the butt into large chunks, discarding any leftover fascia or fatty chunks. Return butt to crockpot.
Make Sauce
When about an hour remains to cook the butt, remove the papery skins from the tomatillos and wash well. Slice them in half along their equators and array cut side down in a deep baking tray. Bake at 450 F for about 20 minutes, or until they are very bubbly and starting to brown. Set them aside to cool slightly while the oven warms up to broiling.
Slice all peppers lengthwise and core them. Arrange cut sides down in a shallow broiling dish and broil for a few minutes until they brown like a good pizza.
Put peppers, tomatillos and juice, and cilantro in the food processor and blend until pretty smooth. Add to crockpot with now-finished-and-pulled-apart pork butt. Add chicken broth until the consistency looks right, plus about 1/2 cup. Put crockpot on high.
Make onion part
Chop onion into dime-size pieces. In hot skillet, combine 1/2 cup reserved pork butt liquid and onion. Cook until onion loses its bite but is still slightly crunchy. Add drained beans and cook until beans lose their canned taste, about another 5-10 minutes. Add more reserved pork butt liquid as necessary to maintain a wet environment.
Add the onion part to the crockpot and leave on high for 10 minutes, then low for 40. Adjust seasonings. Serve within 2 hours.
Total
time: 7-8 hours, 4-5 of which are just waiting for the crockpot.
Yield: 1 gallon chili.