I made one of my favorite dishes tonight, for the first time, and it turned out great! Posole (also spelled pozole) is a hominy and pork based stew from Mexico; I first tried it at our company cafeteria where it was quite a hit, but had never tried to make it before. It’s really pretty easy and is very tasty!
Posole
Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs. pork shoulder
1/2 onion stuck with 2 cloves
2 cloves garlic, peeled
5 peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed (ground cumin can be used in a pinch)
oregano, pinch
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 cups canned white hominy, drained and rinsed
3 to 5 cups pork broth from cooking pork shoulder
1 cup canned chopped green chilies
Salt to taste
2 whole jalapenos, canned or fresh, chopped (optional)
Preparation
Sear the pork in a bit of hot oil and then add onion, garlic, peppercorns, cumin and oregano. Fill with lightly salted water till meat is barely covered. Bring to a boil (skimming off any foam) and then simmer, covered, for about an hour. Reserve the liquid and cool the meat before cutting into small cubes (may be torn in the style of pulled pork if desired).
While the pork is cooling, saute the chopped onion and garlic till the onion turns clear. Add the rest of the spices, the pork followed by the hominy and finish up with the reserved pork broth. Simmer for an hour or so, and if you can wait, let it sit overnight for the best flavor.
To serve, provide chopped onion, shredded radish, pickled jalapeno pepper slices, shredded cabbage, lime wedges and tortilla chips (fried up fresh from flour burrito shells if possible). Each person mixes in the ingredients as they desire, dressing the soup with lime juice and topping it all off with the crispy tortilla chips. I’m getting hungry thinking about it!
Recipe inspired by a Classic Posole.