Posole Variation

I've been making Posole for years. It's a red chile based stew with pork and hominy. We have it every year around New Years Day. A few weeks ago I had dinner with Mother at Garduno's in Albuquerque. They served a different version of the recipe than I have usually made. I liked it and it turned out pretty good made this way.

It does take close to a full day to make. So plan ahead.

I apologize in advance for the quantities. They are not particularly crucial.

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 4 lbs pork - This is best if it has some bones in it. Something like neck bones is good for part of it but I mixed in some I got at Walmart labelled "Pork for Carnitas" which was sort of pork stew meat but with larger hunks. It's ok if there is fat in the pork. We will cook it off.
• 4-5 cups chicken or vegetable broth - I prefer the broth rather than the bullion with water. The bullion is over salty.
• 1 cup beef broth (or 1 tsp beef bullion or 1 cube beef bullion)
• 1 tsp pepper - black or white both work well
• 1 tsp salt

Slice the port into thin slices as best you can given the bones in it. Brown it in a skillet with a bit of olive oil. If there is some fat in the pork, you might not need the oil. Add the meat to a crock pot and turn it on high. Cover the meat with the broth. Add water if needed. Stir in the pepper. (Salt goes in later.)

Cook for about 6 hours on high.

Turn down the crock pot. Set it on low. Add the salt. Cook for 8-10 more hours. Spoon off any oil or grease that pools on top. You have to not stir the pot for a while and the oil will collect. Gently lower the spoon just below the surface to collect as much oil and as little soup as possible. Dip some of of the outer green leafy Iceberg lettuce leaves to collect more of the little bits of oil this leaves. Use them like little brushes as the oil will stick to the lettuce and the broth won't.

While the meat is cooking, make the chile sauce. Use a medium sauce pan.

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion - dice finely
• 2 cloves garlic - minced
• 2 tsp flour
• 2/3 c New Mexico Red Chile powder - Do not confuse this with "chili powder" which contains garlic and onion and other spices. This is dried, ground up red chiles. (This is the hardest ingredient to find outside of New Mexico.) You can decide whether to use mild, med or hot.
• 1/4 tsp cumin - ground (also called comino)
• 2 cups chicken broth 
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp oregano - preferably mexican oregano
• 1 tsp salt

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil on medium heat until translucent. Stir in the flour and cook out the raw flour flavor. Stir a lot to keep it from over-browning the flour. Add the chile powder and comino. Stir to combine well and break up any lumps. Add the broth and other ingredients.

Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Be careful with the heat. It must be low enough to avoid scorching the chile which is easy to burn. (Be careful with this mixture. Chile will stain the counter or your clothes or the wall or any plastic container.) At this point I usually set the sauce aside or put it in the refrigerator.

When the soup and meat is nearly done, put the following in a large pan:

• 1 gallon can Mexican Hominy - I bought some Juanita's Foods brand. You can also use the dried Posole/Hominy available mostly in New Mexico. But you have to soak it for a couple of hours before heating and you have to add a bunch of water and simmer it for a while to let it soak up the water and soften.

Bring the canned Hominy to a boil. No need to simmer but it doesn't hurt if you need to prepare something else.

In individual bowls, add a little

• thinly sliced red onion

then stir together with equal parts Hominy and meat. Include a little of the liquid from the Hominy and a lot of the broth from the meat. Add a spoonful (or two or three) of the chile sauce to just one spot on the top of the bowl. Sprinkle with fresh chopped Parsley or Cilantro. (Note that the photo above shows how it looks after you stir the chile sauce in. I don't stir it myself as I like different bites to have different levels of the chile flavor.)

Serve hot.