Cinco de Mayo Green Chili Tomato Relish

For dinner yesterday, I was going to make my Berkshire Pork Tomahawk Chop with Shallot and Cherub Tomato Pan Gravy, the recipe for which may be found here. But My Number One Fan reminded me that it was May 5th, or Cinco de Mayo – a Mexican holiday, which has also become something of a commercial marketing event in the US for all things Mexican, like cerveza, tacos, tequila and every Mexican Restaurant on the planet. The holiday actually commemorates the military victory of Mexico over French troops in 1862 at the Battle of Puebla.  The French, it seems, had ambitions of conquering the country under the self-proclaimed emperor, Maximilian.  If you’ve ever seen the 1969 movie The Undefeated with John Wayne and Rock Hudson, you’ll know something of the basis for Cinco de Mayo, which serves as a backdrop to the movie’s story.

So, with that culinary challenge in front of me, I had to decide how best to turn Berkshire pork chops into something with a Mexican flavor and invented this recipe.  As I looked online after the fact, however, I seem not to be the first person that ever thought of combining green chilies, tomatoes, garlic and cilantro to make a salsa.  Nevertheless, this was devilishly easy to make and perfectly complimented the pork chops which I pan seared and oven finished in a cast iron skillet the same way as in the recipe cited above.  I added my Avocado Mash recipe, found here, to round out the Cinco de Mayo meal and included a shot of tequila, offering ¡Salud! to my Mexican neighbors to the south.

Ingredients
1/2 medium yellow onion, very finely minced
1 green onion, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, finely minced
2 4-oz cans chopped mild green chilies, drained (like, Old El Paso or Goya)
3 medium fresh tomatoes, diced
4 tbsp fresh cilantro (freeze dried works as a substitute)
1/8 tsp smoked salt (like, San Francisco Salt Company alder wood)
dash Tabasco sauce (optional)
3 tbsp avocado oil

The Recipe
Heat the avocado oil in a skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Sauté the onion until caramelized, about seven minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for a minute more.

Add the tomatoes and sauté until they have collapsed, about five minutes.  Add green chilies, cilantro and smoked salt.  Because the heat of green chilies will vary by brand, test the concoction for spicy heat and decide if you want the Tabasco shot or not.  With deference to the delicacy of my Number One Fan on this occasion, I did not. Sauté gently for another ten minutes.

Allow liquid to reduce if too soupy.  You want the consistency of a relish or a Mexican salsa. Once there, you can cap the skillet with a lid and leave it on warm while you finish the chops.

Spoon the salsa over the pan fried pork chops or serve on the side.  This relish would go great with many other dishes: hamburgers, steak, meatloaf, fajitas, omelets, and anything else where you’re seeking some bright, spicy Mexican flavor. My Number One Fan wants me to can it so she can have it on hand at all times.