Friday, August 14, 2009

Pining for Posole


I don't know about you, but I get hankerings. And since Mexico is one of my favorite places on the planet, its tastes and smells are a frequent source of my cravings. Somehow the flavors of lime, chiles and cilantro slap me upside the head and suddenly I'm sitting on the rooftop at El Nido in Puerto Vallarta looking out over the Bahia de Banderas or zipping through the streets of Mazatlan with street vendors hawking fish and freshly made tortillas.

On the Plazuela Machado in Mazatlan.

So when I saw a package of dried corn at my local New Seasons Market, it was like running across a doorway into Mexico right there in the aisle. I saw the table under the palms in the Plazuela Machado, the waiters carrying big trays over their heads to their waiting customers, the evening breeze carrying the smell of meat simmered all day in a sauce of dark red chiles.

Needless to say, the little package came home along with a couple of pounds of pork shoulder. A few hours of simmering, to build anticipation as much as anything, and we sat down to our dinner. In Mexico.

Posole Rojo

12 oz. dried posole or hominy
6-8 dried ancho chiles
1 onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. oregano
Salt to taste
2-3 lbs. pork shoulder cut in 1 1/2" cubes
Juice of 1 lime

Put dried posole into non-reactive bowl or Dutch oven and cover with water. Soak overnight. Drain posole and put back in Dutch oven in enough salted water to cover. Bring to boil and simmer for at least 2 hours until softened. Drain and reserve.

Remove seeds, ribs and stems from chiles and tear into large pieces. Place in heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water. After half an hour, when chiles are soft and somewhat cooled, drain them, reserving the liquid. Put chiles, onion, oregano and garlic in bowl of food processor and process, adding reserved chile-soaking liquid to make it a thick sauce. Season to taste with salt.

Add meat and chile sauce to cooked hominy in Dutch oven and stir to combine, adding more chile-soaking liquid or water if needed. Bring to a boil on the stove, lower heat and simmer for two hours or until meat can be mashed with a wooden spoon. Stir in lime juice and serve with rice and tortillas.

6 comments:

  1. Mother of all things holy, that looks fantastic! It couldn't look more different from mine, which is really more of a soup, and which is about to get its ass ditched in favor of this.

    How compromised do you think the dish would be using canned pozole vs. dried? I can not only taste it, I can feel the texture of that glorious shredded pork. Well done, senora.

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  2. Honestly, I think the dried variety, especially a good quality corn, would make a lot of difference. Like canned beans vs. fresh, n'est-ce pas?

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  3. I'm halfway through the pork simmering. House smells great. Stomachs are rumbling. Just took a taste. Freakin' hot! Okay, I used 8 peppers, but 3 of them were very small! It will be fine, because there's the rice, tortillas, lime juice, cilantro, and, well, sour cream. But, how hot a yours? We're not normally wimps. Ugh. I can't believe we have another hour to go! I'm hungry!

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  4. Ours wasn't that hot…I'd say mild to medium. Must be the difference in the brand of peppers. Keep us posted!

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  5. Delicioso! Nicely spicy! Leftovers for days! Shredding the meat and adding lime juice and lots of great cilantro*made*it. My personal posole recipe uses fresh pasillas, and canned hominy, and this was a nice change!

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  6. Oh, to have had a personal posole recipe! But now I guess I do…is this proof of "good things come to those who wait"?

    Glad it turned out for you!

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