New Mexican Pozole Recipes

NEW MEXICAN POZOLE

Steps:

• Drain soaked hominy and put in large soup pot. Cover with water and bring to boil. Let simmer briskly for 1 hour.
• While hominy is cooking, make red chile purée: Toast dried chiles lightly in cast-iron skillet or stovetop grill, just until fragrant. Wearing gloves, slit chiles lengthwise with paring knife. Remove and discard stems and seeds. Put chiles in saucepan and cover with 4 cups water. Simmer 30 minutes and let cool. In blender, purée chiles to a smooth paste using some cooking water as necessary. Purée should be of milkshake consistency.
• Season pork belly and pork shoulder generously with salt and pepper. After posole has cooked 1 hour, add pork shoulder, pork belly, onion stuck with cloves, bay leaf, garlic and cumin. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches, then return to a brisk simmer. While adding water occasionally and tasting broth for salt, simmer for about 2 1/2 hours more, until meat is tender and posole grains have softened and burst. Skim fat from surface of broth.
• Stir in 1 cup chile purée and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and correct seasoning. (At this point, posole can be cooled completely and reheated later. Refrigerate for up to 3 days.)
• To serve, ladle posole, meat and broth into wide bowls. Pass bowls of diced onion, lime wedges, cilantro and oregano, and let guests garnish to taste.

NEW MEXICAN POSOLE

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients, except the salt and hominy in a pot.
• Simmer the stew over low to moderate heat, uncovered, for 2 - 3 hours until the meat is very tender. If the mixture becomes too dry while cooking, add more water. (About mid way through this time, I fish out the chiles and gently scrape the now fully reconstituted inner flesh from the paper like skins. Stir the chile flesh back into the stew and throw the skins away.) About 1/2 hour before the stew is done add canned hominy.
• When posole is done, add salt to taste. The stew should be a sort of soupy stew, best served like chili, in bowls.

TRADITIONAL MEXICAN POZOLE

Steps:

• Prepare the onion with the 2 cloves, peel the garlic, chop the onion, peel and chop the 2 garlic cloves, chop the green chilies and jalapenos if you are using them. Drain the hominy rinse. Now you are ready to start cooking.
• Place the meat in a large saucepan and just cover with lightly salted water. Add the clove studded onion, 2 cloves peeled garlic, peppercorns, cumin seed, and oregano. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off any foam that rises, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove meat and broth, reserving both.
• Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add the remaining spices, stir for a minute. Cut the reserved pork into 1 inch cubes and add to the pan. Stir in the canned hominy, pork broth (if there is not enough pork broth, add chicken stock), green chilies and jalapenos (optional).
• Cook at a simmer, covered, for 45 to 60 minutes until the meat and hominy are tender. If necessary, cook for up to an additional 60 minutes until the chilies and onions are well blended into the broth. Degrease the stew, taste for salt, and serve in soup bowls.

ROSA'S RED POSOLE

Steps:

• TO MAKE THE SOUP: Heat the 1 tablespoon oil for about 30 seconds in a large Dutch oven or 12-quart stockpot set over medium heat. Salt and pepper the pork butt; sear it until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove the pot from the heat; slice the meat into 2- to 3-inch hunks and return it to the pot. Add the 1/2 onion, 4 cloves garlic, the 1 teaspoon salt, and the 10 cups water. Set the pot over high heat until the mixture boils; decrease the heat slightly to bring it down to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 hour, skimming off any scum that rises to the surface. Cover and simmer until the meat is falling-apart tender, about 1 hour more. Strain the meat from the broth, and return the broth to the pot. Skim off as much fat as possible. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it into bite-size pieces, removing and discarding as much fat as possible, and return it to the pot.
• TO MAKE THE CHILE SAUCE: While the meat simmers, place the guajillo and chipotle chiles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Use a plate or slightly smaller bowl to weigh down the chiles, keeping them completely submerged. Once the chiles have softened, about 30 minutes for the unusually tough guajillos, remove from the soaking water. Strain the soaking water, reserving 1 cup. Puree the chiles in a blender with 1/2 cup of the reserved soaking water, the quartered onion, and 5 cloves garlic. Push the pureed chile-onion mixture through a strainer to catch any seeds or large, tough bits of chile. Drizzle the 1 tablespoon olive oil into a skillet set over medium heat. Add the strained chile mixture, the remaining 1/2 cup of chile soaking water, oregano, cumin, Tabasco, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir the chile mixture into the soup; add the hominy and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Taste and correct the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if necessary.
• When ready to serve, set out bowls of lime wedges, sliced radishes, lettuce, green onions, cilantro, avocado, and guacamole, allowing guests to choose their own toppings.
• The soup can be made 2 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated until ready to serve. It can be frozen for up to 3 weeks before serving.
• Pork butt can be fatty, which makes it flavorful, but it also can lead to greasy soup. One of the easiest ways to remove the fat is to refrigerate the soup overnight. The fat will rise to the top and harden, making it easy to spoon off without sacrificing any of the flavorful broth. If you don't have time to refrigerate the soup, there's another way: After the straining the cooked meat from the broth, let the broth settle for about 5 minutes without stirring. The fat will rise to the top. Set a single sheet of paper towel lightly on top and let it soak up the fat. Discard the towel and if the broth harbors more fat, repeat.