Classic Posole Recipes

CLASSIC POSOLE

Steps:

• For pork:
• Preheat oven to 275°. Line a small roasting pan with foil. Mix cumin, garlic powder, and smoked paprika in a small bowl. Rub spice mix all over pork. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork in pan and cover with sliced onion. Pour 1/2 cup water in the bottom of pan. Cover pan tightly with foil and roast until meat is very tender, 5-6 hours. Let pork rest until cool enough to handle.
• Using 2 forks, shred pork into bite-size pieces. Skim fat from juices in roasting pan; reserve meat. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill pork and juices separately.
• For posole:
• Heat oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the diced fresh tomatoes and stir until softened, about 2 minutes longer. Stir in broth and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Cover; simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
• Add reserved pork to posole. Simmer uncovered 30 minutes longer for flavors to meld. Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding reserved juices from roast pork, if desired. Divide among bowls, garnish with shredded cheese, cilantro, and lime wedges, and serve with flour tortillas.

TRADITIONAL PORK POSOLE

Steps:

• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
• Place the peppers with cut sides down onto the prepared baking sheet.
• Cook under the preheated broiler until the skin of the peppers has blackened and blistered, 5 to 8 minutes. Place the blackened peppers into a bowl and tightly seal with plastic wrap. Allow the peppers to steam as they cool, about 20 minutes. Remove plastic wrap and carefully remove and discard pepper skins. Dice peppers.
• Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in hot oil until tender and fragrant, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Stir pork into onion and garlic; cook and stir until pork is browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Add diced green chiles to pork; cook and stir until fragrant, 5 minutes.
• Pour white hominy, yellow hominy, chicken broth, water, cumin, chili powder, salt, and black pepper into pork mixture. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 15 minutes; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors blend and pork is tender, at least 1 hour.

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.

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN POZOLE

Steps:

• This recipe requires a simple prep.
• Prepare the onion, peel the garlic, chop the onion, peel and chop the 2 garlic cloves, chop the green chilies and jalapenos if you are using them and get the hominy drained and rinsed.
• I boil my ancho chilies in a separate small pot for the garnish part(read below).
• Now you are ready to cook.
• Place the meat in a large saucepan and just cover with lightly salted water.
• Add 1/2 chopped onion, the 2 cloves peeled garlic, pepper, cumin, 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.
• Saute the remaining 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, I like to add it anyway for flavor, about 2-4 cups, eyeball the amount you like), 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.
• This is a delicious recipe and well worth the effort to make.
• Garnishes that are always served with are:.
• lots of lime/lemon wedges.
• sliced radishes.
• chopped cilantro.
• Shredded cabbage(not red).
• fresh/ packaged fried corn tortillas.
• When my ancho chilies are soft from boiling(takes about 15 minutes), then i put them in the blender with 1 1/2cups of water, 1 clove of garlic and about 2 tablespoons diced onion, and about 1 tablespoons of salt and pepper. I blend this thin, then strain it to get the liquid separated from its "pulp". I throw the pulp into the soup for the flavor i like but you can discard if too spicy for you. The remaining liquid you put in a serving dish for guests to add in their own bowl, if desired. Beware! It's HOT!