Pork Posole

Food magazines are inspiring reading materials.My daughter gets to this month's Saveur before I do. I see that the magazine has many dog-eared pages and I rightfully assume I am to recreate her wishes! The cover has a red posole soup, lucious and laden with accoutrements. As as I drool, I know what's for lunch.

Posole is a Mexican soup made with hominy. Hominy is dried corn called nixtamal. It is made with slaked lime. As horrible as it sounds, get past it. Hominy is delicious and fluffy. I tend to use canned hominy, as the dried one is just too much work. I usually make a green posole with chile verde, so this will be a pleasant change

I start with the pork stock. Single cut pork chops are boiled with onion, garlic, peppercorns and a bay leaf. The stock is strained and the pork is shredded into bite size bits. Refrigerating the stock overnight allows you to spoon off the thick layer of fat that rises to the top. 

The red components starts with soaking ancho and guajillo peppers in hot water. Softened chiles are blended with onion and garlic. The paste is then strained so you have a smooth puree. Stir the puree with oil till it changes color. Add pork stock, canned hominy, shredded pork and water. Allow the soup to bubble and boil for a half hour. I add a grated potato that thickens the soup without diluting the flavor. The hominy fluffs up and softens, the intensity of chile develops and you have a lovely bright red soup. 

Slice radishes. Chop avocados. Dice red onion. Shred cabbage. Cut a few wedges of lime. Crumble some feta. Arrange a few cilantro sprigs. Whisk sour cream. Crush corn chips. This lengthy list of garnishes will take your posole over the top!


PORK POSOLE
Adapted from Saveur Magazine
Serves 4
DF, GF, WF, EF


4 single cut Pork Chops
1 white or yellow Onion, chopped roughly
4 Garlic cloves, peeled
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
3 Guajillo Chiles
3 Ancho Chiles
1 white or yellow Onion, chopped
4 Garlic cloves
10 Peppercorns
2 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 can Hominy
1 Potato, grated thickly
1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

Garnishes for Posole
Radishes, thinly sliced
Red Onion, diced
Avocado, cubed
Cabbage, shredded
Cilantro leaves
Limes, quartered
Feta Cheese or Queso Fresco
Sour Cream
Corn or Tortilla or Quinoa Chips


Start the pork stock by placing pork chops in a deep saucepan. 

Add chopped onion,4 garlic cloves, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to pork. 

Add enough water to cover the pork by 4 inches. Bring to boil, lower heat, cover and cook for an hour till pork shreds easily when pierced with a knife. 

Drain stock. You should have 2-3 cups of stock. Discard onion, garlic and bay leaf.

Shred cooked pork into bite sized pieces. Remove all visible fat. 

If you plan to make this a day ahead, refrigerate the stock and pork pieces. You can spoon the fat layer off the stock the next morning.

Stem and deseed chiles.

Soak the chiles in hot water, making sure they are submerged. Soak for 20 minutes.

Place chiles in a blender container along with chopped onion and garlic. Add a few tablespoons of the soaking liquid and blend till smooth. 

Spoon the paste into a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl. Press down with a rubber spatula to allow puree to pass through. Discard seeds and skins. 

Heat oil in a deep saucepan.

Add puree and saute for 15 minutes over medium high flame till puree starts changing color.

Pour the stock in. Whisk well to mix. Bring to a boil.

Open a can of hominy and rinse well under running water.

Add hominy and pork to stock. Boil for 15 minutes.

Add 1-2 cups water along with the grated potato. Cook uncovered for another 10-15 minutes till soup had thickened.

Season soup with salt.

Serve soup in large bowls with all or some of the garnishes.

Cook the book, rather the magazine,  is a wonderful idea! I'm ever so grateful to Shauna for those dog-eared pages, as we eat spoonfuls of posole.






  

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