Ingredients: |
Ingredients: • 3 lbs pork shoulder – cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces. (note – don’t use lean meat. There should be fat left on the meat. )
• 2 pig’s feet quartered (pig feet and the neck bones can be omitted. However, posole will not be as unctuous [I love using that word]. Instead, try to get other pork bones – use the one in the pork shoulder)
• 1 lb of pork neck bones
• 3 cups dried hominy corn (2 large cans of pre-cooked hominy can be substituted)
• 1 medium onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 roasted, peeled, seeded and diced poblano peppers (these can be purchased in a can. In a pinch, you can use other roasted peppers but it will change the taste a bit)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 medium tomatoes (you can use 2 cups of drained diced canned tomatoes if you want)
• 1 250 ml can diced tomotoes
• 1 can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
• 1 litre of chicken broth (2 litres if not using feet and neck bones)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ˝ tsp cumin
• ˝ tsp thyme
• Pinch cinnamon
• 2T canola oil
• Salt and pepper
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Directions: |
Directions:• Salt and pepper the meat. Put the pig’s feet and neck bones in a large roaster. Put in hot (450 degree oven) for 1 hour or until well browned. After roasting, pour 3 litres of water over the meat and place on stovetop burner. Simmer for 4 hours until all of the goodness of the pork has infused the water. Remove the meat (you can pick off the meat if you want but I find it too much work) and strain the broth. If necessary transfer the broth to a large pot. (this can be done ahead of time as the broth will keep for up to a week in the fridge)
• If using the dried hominy, soak overnight in cold water. If using the canned, drain the hominy and add directly to the pork broth. If using the dried hominy, you need to simmer it for at least 3 hours in the broth. The canned hominy does not need pre-cooking.
• If you didn’t use the pig’s feet and neck bones to create a broth, cook the dried hominy or add the canned hominy to 1 litre of water and 1 litre of chicken broth.
• In a large Dutch oven on strong heat (you can use a large stainless steel pot with a good cover if you have to) brown the pork cubes in the oil. Don’t crowd the pan. Do it in batches if necessary. You want a good brown crust on the pork. It takes about 6 to 10 minutes per batch. Brown the bones as well. When you are finished, take the meat out of the pan and de-glaze it with chicken broth. Make sure to scrape up the brown bits in the bottom as this is where a lot of the flavour comes from. Add a total of 1 litre of chicken broth to the pan and return all of the meat and bones. The liquid should just about cover the meat. Cover the pot and place in a 250 degree oven for at least 4 hours.
• Take the can of chipotle chiles with adobo sauce and combine with 250 ml can of tomatoes. Blend this mixture. This is the main seasoning ingredient. (Don’t use all of it in the posole as it would blow your head off. Instead, add 1 T at a time until desired flavour and hotness is reached.
• Finely dice the onion, mince the garlic and cut the carrots and celery into chunks. ( I remove the carrots and celery later so make them easy to find and remove. (They are there for the flavouring only) Add all of these to the hominy pot and simmer for at least an hour. Add the herbs – oregano, cumin, thyme and cinnamon at this time also. When the flavour has been extracted from the celery and carrots, remove. ( I suppose you could leave them in but it’s not really authentic)
• When the meat is done, add it as well as the broth to the hominy pan. (Prior to adding the meat you can remove some of the fat from the meat if you wish. Most of it will have melted but there is always some remaining)
• Add the poblano chiles to this mixture as well as the 2 tomatoes (tomatoes should be peeled, seeded and chopped into ˝ chunks. (you can substitute 2 cups of drained diced tomatoes if desired)
• After everything is together, season the mixture with salt and pepper (note: you have to add a lot of salt to this dish as the hominy is very bland and will soak up salt like you wouldn’t believe. If you don’t add enough salt, the posole will disappoint.
• After you get the seasoning right, start adding the chipotle/tomatoe mixture. Add 1 tsp at a time. Stir and let simmer for a few minutes and taste. This is a crucial step as too little will make it wimpy while too much can quickly be overpowering. Trust your taste.
• Continue to simmer for an hour. Serve immediately or better yet let sit in the fridge for 1 to 2 days and reheat. Mmmmm!! |
This recipe for Pork Posole is from