Posole is a Southwestern/Mexican stew with hominy and tender pork in a red chili sauce, and a food of love thing.
Posole
By Sue Lau | Palatable Pastime
Most of the recipes I have seen for this call for canned hominy in a quick measure. But canned hominy offers neither the total flavor or texture of posole hominy from it’s dried form. So not using canned, you should opt for dried, since in this form it has been peeled and reduces the effort in making. Using canned offers less flavor and the texture is soft, whereas it really should be tender but slightly chewy. Not tough like chewy beef steak, but chewy with texture.
I regret I couldn’t find my father in law’s recipe for posole that we found tucked into his favorite cookbook after he had passed. Apparently it was a recipe he had gained after Bill flew the nest. And his Dad, being an adventurous sort (he was a boxer and a skydiver among other things) was always up to try something new. And he enjoyed chili (especially with a Wisconsin buttery burger). That recipe is around here somewhere. Sometime if I come across it I will prepare that one for you guys as well. It was the first mention of posole I ever had.
I know most people want a slow cooker recipe to just “throw-and-go” (meaning tossing a few ingredients into a crockpot) and as much as I want to give that to you here, I felt it really needed to have that hour of cook time thrown in to cut off a few extra hours on the back end. Plus it needed to cook more vigorously at first than the ultra-slow heating of the slow cooker to give it a jump start. But considering it boils by itself, just get it going in the morning while you do other things. And you can have it cooking before you go to work.
The chili powder I use is essentially ground New Mexico chilis which is slightly different from grocery store chili powder, which is a chili powder blend that includes cumin. But I know some of you will use that anyway. Just try to cut back on the cumin if you do, and check your label to see if there is anything else they added that you might want to cut back on as well.
Other than that, it is pretty straight forward. Don’t worry about the epazote/mint if you don’t have it. Don’t go buying fresh mint for conformity- just omit it. The ham bone is for flavoring the broth. You could flavor yours with ham seasoning or maybe toss some ham into the pot if you like. It is just to enrich the broth for better flavor.
Can’t think of anything else to add but I get that way sometimes. I can have things mapped out for months on end then suddenly stall and not be able to make up my mind. I guess it doesn’t matter too much- all the finished recipes on this side will get out sooner or later. It’s just that the holidays seemed to have a purpose, where every day was defined. Now I have the one odd day before #SoupWeek starts on Monday (surprise!)(5 days, count them, of lovely soup!). This next week I also have #FoodieExtravaganza on Wednesday with a recipe for Popcorn Cornbread (yep, you read that right)(weird, huh?). And on Thursday I join the #FillTheCookieJar group with my recipe for Almond Biscotti. I hope to see you each and every day!
And I want to thank you all for joining me here at Palatable this year. It’s been a lot of fun! But also had it’s ups and downs. 2016 has been a crazy year for us (and for everyone else) but at least…we’re still alive. Surely 2017 will be better. We can only hope!
Posole
- Additional overnight soaking time is required
- 1 hour 10 minutes active stovetop time
- 5-6 hours crockpot time
Ingredients:
- 14 ounces dried posole (mote pelado)
- 2 quarts water
- 1 ham bone
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 2-1/2 pounds boneless pork shoulder blade roast, trimmed and chopped into chunks
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoons lard or olive oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2/3 cup ground New Mexico chili powder (chile molido)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried epazote or dried mint
- 3 small dried red chilies, crushed (or 1-2 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
- 4 ounce can chopped green chillies
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- Garnishes: cilantro, chopped onion, sliced fresh jalapenos, sliced radishes, and lime wedges
Method:
- Soak the dried posole overnight, then drain.
- Place drained posole in a saucepan and cover with the 2 quarts of water, the ham bone, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour.
- Pour posole mixture into a crockpot.
- Season pork with salt and pepper.
- Heat lard or oil in the empty pan and brown the pork, onions and garlic.
- Add the meat and onion mix to the crock pot with the posole and also add the chicken broth, chili powder, oregano, cumin, epazote, crushed chilies, green chilies and tomato paste, stirring to mix.
- Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or until pork is tender and posole is tender but slightly chewy.
- Garnish stew with cilantro, chopped onion, sliced fresh jalapenos, sliced radishes (those are watermelon radishes in the pic if you’re wondering about their color) and lime wedges as desired (I think the cilantro and lime really are a “must”).
- Serve with warm flour tortillas or cornbread.
From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com
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YES!!! As I was reading your comments I thought I bet I have everything except ground New England chili powder and was wondering what kind of chili peppers grew in New England. I realized that you must have meant New Mexico chili after reading the recipe itself! Darn spell check! Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I really do have everything including some out of this world dried white corn posole from my favorite bean provider Rancho Gordo in Napa, California. I’m soaking the posole tonight and making this tomorrow. Thanks again!
Oops! I laughed out loud when I saw that typo. Perhaps it’s chili powder with a hint of clam chowder? 😂 But fixed now. Hope you enjoy!😀