RE: [CH] Hummus - Haggis--Pozole
Mary & Riley (uGuys@ChileGarden.com)
Thu, 26 Oct 2000 17:17:31 -0700
> Ain't nothing wrong with haggis! Especially when washed down with
> copious amounts of Scotland's finest single malts...wait, that's another
Amen
Riley McIntire, a bit partial to Scotch _and_ Irish.
> list. Try this: Especially when well sprinkled with chipotle powder.
> Yeah, that's it!
>
> If you have ever eaten a hotdog or a pepperoni stick, you've got no call
> to be dissin' haggis...
Recalls a post on Mexican cooking: Has chile's in it, too.
Hog head pozole rojo
One of the joys of raising hogs is I get to keep the heads because none of
my customers want them. I used a new slaughterer this time, and he skinned
the heads right in the field and dejowled them, thus removing most of the
fat and saving me a whole lot of skimming.
So that left me with 14 heads and plenty of projects to use them on. After
the scrapple and the liverwurst (no one wanted their livers either), it was
time for:
POZOLE ROJO
-----------------------
(Yield 10-12 quarts)
1 hog head, or 3 lbs. pork shoulder, cut in 3/4" cubes
12 New Mexico chiles
12 ancho chiles
6 chipotles, dried, or 1 can chipotles en escabeche
6 chiles de arbol
1 large onion
1 whole head of garlic, peeled
5-6 lbs. fresh or frozen nixtamal
4 TBS vegetable oil or lard
Salt
Black pepper
1 handful Mexican oregano and/or 1 TBS ground cumin
Bring head to boil in water to cover (about 3 gallons), then simmer till
meat is tender and falling off the bone (about 4-5 hours). Skim off all
scum. Remove head from pot. (I use a 48-qt. stock pot with a strainer
insert for deep-frying turkeys). Put head in large bowl (this may be a
problem for some) and let cool. Continue to reduce stock on simmer.
Overnight is about right.
Cut meat off skull and chop coarsely. Refrigerate overnight. There should
be about 3 lbs. of good mystery meat. I use it all; ojos, sesos, the
works.
Seed and de-stem chiles. Remove 2 qts. of the pork stock from the
simmering pot and put in another pot over low heat. Add chiles to this and
simmer till soft. Strain out chiles but save the liquid. Put chiles in
food processor with onion and garlic and puree.
Heat oil or lard in skillet or dutch oven till quite hot. Use your exhaust
fan or do this outside. Add pureed chiles to hot oil, with some liquid if
necessary, and stir like mad till mixture is reduced by about a third. Add
this mixture, and the retained chile liquid, to the stock pot. Mix
thoroughly, then add the meat. When the meat is heated through, add the
nixtamal. Add salt, pepper, oregano and/or cumin to taste. Simmer for
another 2-3 hours, then serve.
I make a batch of pozole rojo every year or two, and this was the best one
yet, because of taking the time to reduce the stock. All these quantities
are easily divisible.
Just one admonition: The fresh nixtamal is a must. If you even dream of
substituting canned hominy, slap yourself. It's not worth it. IMO a good
pot of pozole, with the right ingredients, is worth all the time and
effort.
Ivan Weiss ZEAL, n. A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young
Vashon WA and inexperienced. A passion that goeth before a sprawl.
-- Ambrose Bierce: The Devil's Dictionary
A snippet of followup:
> I have 11 heads left. Tamales, burritos, enchiladas and empanadas are all
> in the plans. It helps to have 2 1/2 freezers. Too bad I grossed that
> pobrecito out.
Well, an old boy outside of San Antonio told me once (re: dressing out
venison)
"Face meat makes the best chile..."
Adolph Toepperwein Jr.