Charley Favorite Chili Verde

We love Mexican Food. We Love It! If we don’t have Mexican food for a couple of days, the cravings start. So we take recipes and modify them to match our cooking style, our available ingredients and of course our taste. Seems simple enough. And when easy recipes hit the jackpot, I am ready to use them again and again and share them with friends as we carry on about our recipes.

So, after several attempts at Chili Verde, Anet, Judith and I agreed that this is our favorite Chili Verde recipe. It is suited our taste buds very well. The biggest problem is that we want to eat more, even when we are full.

One Brown Onion – Minced and two or three three fresh jalapenos seeded, minced and sauteed

a pound or so of pork (loins, chops or whatever) cut into cubes (your choice of size  – say half inch cubes) and browned in a bit of oil.

put it all into a crock pot with a couple cups of Herdez Green Chili Verde Salsa – enough salsa to cover the ingredients 

Mix gently and Let it cook on medium for a couple hours (or more) and serve over rice (or just bet a big bowl of it!).

Easy, Tasty, Satisfying, Smells terrific, and We are happy. Herdez - Fabulous - Charley Carlin

I have found that I like to add potatoes as well (or instead of) with the pork. I chunk the potatoes and boil them till fully cooked, rinse and add them to the mix – and extra sauce if needed Keep everything covered and the masterpiece is on the way..

Do the same with carrots as well. works great, tastes great and We Love It!

Moroccan Crockpot Stew

Charley’s Kitchen Version of Moroccan Stew

While at one of our favorite local restaurants, Fig Good Food, I tried a dish of Moroccan Stew. I liked it a lot and found myself ordering it again and again. Well, I went to the internet and looked up at least a half dozen versions of Moroccan Chick Pea Stew. With that input and my alterations for local conditions and local availability, I created Charley’s Kitchen version of Moroccan Stew which has been quite popular! Now you can create that same dish at your place. Enjoy!

Get that Crockpot out and put it on Low.  I like the slow cooking method myself. This filles the house with wonderful smells.

Add these to the Mix:

  • 2 Cans Garbanzo Beans (rinsed well)
  • 2 Cans Red Kidney Beans (rinsed well)
  • 2 Cans Pinto Beans (rinsed well)
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or more or less – some like it hot, some do not)
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 big cans (28-ounce) diced tomatoes, juice and all!
  • 6 carrots diced small pieces
  • an equal sized pile of yam or sweet potato (Some prefer Potatoes – Your Choice)

Use olive oil to Saute the following:

  • One medium yellow or brown onion – Sauteed
  • One medium purple onion – Sauteed
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced and  Sauteed
  • 2 jalapenos seeded and minced and Sauteed

Saute till tender and add to the Crockpot. Make sure everything is covered in sauce – This usually means adding a few cups of water.

Eat in about 3 hours – when the carrots and Yams are tender.
Add a bunch of chopped cilantro and Lets Eat!
As Always
Charley Carlin


Recipes and more by Charley CarlinAbout The Chef – Charley loves to cook for a group, whether the group is six or twenty. Creating new concoctions from others recipes by altering quantities, leaving out some parts and adding other parts creates his personal style.  All of his recipes are available for everyone to use.

Smoked Birds

[print_link] There are a couple of dishes that our guests continue to request and never seem to tire of. Smoked birds is the BIG ONE. Whether it is a smoked chicken or smoked turkey the result is always the same. smiling faces and a pile of bones on the table. We all have favourites, I say, if you know a better recipe for smoked chickens or turkeys, please let me know!
Ok, I have given this recipe out about a thousand times and inquiring minds want to complicate the process. The key to this is to do it and get experience with your weber, your charcoal, and your weather.
The version from WEBER  was called Classic Turkey Recipe – I think I may have started with their recipe – and now I have my version. – They no longer have recipes on the weber website.
Charley’s Recipe for Smoked Birds
Use a regular WEBER Kettle BBQ – Indirect fire (that means coals on the sides) – Dry Oak Bark on top of the coals
Rinse Birds, Rub with peanut oil, then salt and pepper (cayenne if you want spicier skin)
Put the chicken on the grill breast up (you can fit 3 to 4 depending on the chicken – set so the chickens do not touch each other and are over the center of the grill (not the coals) or Put the Turkey on the grill breast down (the dark meat above makes it self basting – or use a roast rack – Still Breast Down)
All the chicken needs is about 1 hour 10 minutes to 30 minutes – depending on the hot factor of your coalsThe turkey is 11 – 12 minutes per pound – maximum size for the turkey is about 16 pounds or the lid won’t fitRun the WEBER WIDE OPEN – top and bottom
Take the birds off on time – Let them cool for 5 – 10 minutes (if you can – I can’t) and start slicing
Most importantly – Stop asking questions and start cooking! Seems to me that the simpler the recipe the more questions I seem to get. The only real way to do this is to cook! So.. Bring over a bird and lets cook! I have been using this basic recipe for 15 + years. Add to the table a good merlot, a nice salad, some Garlic Cheddar Mashed Potatoes and finally some good milk chocolate  to go with the second bottle of merlot and you too will be called a wizard! Charley Carlin – 2005-2010
PS – Weber used to have nice recipes on their website – Now they want to sell cook books. – So the Weber site is no longer useful – It is an online brochure. Tis a pity.

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Savory Moroccan Stew

Well it seems that even an old dog can learn new tricks. I had ordered the Savory Moroccan Stew many times at one of our finest little secrets in Atascadero – Fig Fine Food on Traffic Way. Chris does a wonderful job and also does incredible catering. For a map and opinions see the FIG page on Yelp.com – Just click here for a link to FIG Fine Food with a map. Well after trying theirs for some time I decided to create my own version and I have posted it here in Charley.net under the recipes, along with many other favorites by our friends opinions and maybe yours too! Tell us what you think. Enjoy!

Link to Charley’s Version of Savory Moroccan Stew – Click here