Re: [CH] Arecipe enquiry

The Old Bear (oldbear@arctos.com)
Sat, 22 Aug 1998 15:18:25 -0400 

In ChileHeads' Digest, v.5 #22, Roderick Duff wrote:

>Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 09:11:47 +0100
>From: Andrew Healy <A.Healy@surrey.ac.uk>
>Subject: [CH] Arecipe enquiry
>	
>does anyone out there have a good recipe for a flavoursome chile 
>dish - made with pork or chicken cubes - and preferably Spanish 
>(or Mex) in origin.  I can already do a mean porky chile and 
>tortillas but need another style.


                         Posole Mi Casa
                        ================
Posole is a feasts day favorite among the Pueblo Indians who live 
in the Rio Grande Vaslley.  Its special flavor and character, 
however, have made it a year-around favorite of all New Mexicans.

     1 lb      posole, washed well
     6 cups    cold water
     5 medium  onions, coarsely chopped
     4 large   garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
     4 Tbsp    cooking oil
-->  3 lbs     cooked pork shoulder, cut in 3/4" cubes  <--
     1 tsp     crumbled leaf oregano
   1/2 tsp     thyme
     2 tsps    salt (more or less, to taste)
   1/4 tsp     black pepper
 1 2/3 cups    chicken broth
    10 oz      can of whole green chiles,
                 drained and cut into long strips
     1 to 3    jalapeno peppers, minced (1 pepper makes a mild
                 posole; 3 peppers make a torrid one)

 Place the posole and water in a large, heavy pot; bring to a simmer, 
 cover and cook slowly until the kernels burst and are almost tender 
 (about 3 1/2 hours).

 When the posole is almost done, lightly brown onions and garlic in 
 in a skillet in 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil; drain on paper towels. 
 Add another 2 Tablespoons of cooking oil to the skillet and brown 
 the pork cubes, a few at a time.  Drain on paper towels.

 Add onion, garlic, pork and all remaining ingredients to the posole.
 Mix well and simmer covered for 3 more hours.  Taste for salt and 
 adjust as needed.

 Serve in large soup plates and pass a rich red chile sauce for 
 topping, if desired.  Serve with warm tortillas.

 Yield: 8-10 servings

 Source: Simply Simpatico
         A Taste of New Mexico 
         from the 
         Junior League of Albuquerque  (1981)  


Posole is hominy -- large kernels of corn, dried and processed 
with lime to soften the outer hull.  This recipe uses dried posole
corn, but you can buy canned, pre-cooked hominy as a substitue.
I find the canned hominy a bit too soft and, of course, it does 
not take on the flavor of the chile which the dried hominy does 
during the cooking process.

Posole has many variations -- cooks like to improvise and come up 
with their own versions which the family likes -- so feel free to 
be inventive.

The above recipe is for a green chile posole.  Our family favorite
is made with a red chile sauce (a paste of new mexico chiles) added 
to the stew.  People who have not had this before often mistake the 
corn kernels for garbanzo beans (chickpeas) mixed into a red stew 
with cubes of pork -- until they taste it and discover that the 
resemblance is merely visual appearance.

Cheers,
The Old Bear