Green Pozole! You Want to Make This Recipe ...

The original recipe comes from Pati's Mexican Table. She's got a number of good ones posted there.

This recipe takes some doing, but it's worth it, especially after it's sat together for a day or so and all the flavors have come together.

Ingredients:

1 lb dried hominy rinsed - We can't usually find this at our grocery store, so instead of driving into town to the specialty Latin grocery, we substitute two or three cans of white hominy.

1 head garlic

2 whole chickens (or 6 lbs) rinsed, cut up - Make sure you have giblets. We also add some extra either gizzards or livers or both. Also, you can make up the difference with pork butt if you want. We have for a sort of "chorcken" version. It was delish!

1 onion

couple of cilantro sprigs

1 tbsp. kosher or sea salt, or to taste

Green Pozole Sauce (the slurry):

1/2 c pumpkin seeds (pepitas), lightly toasted
1 lb tomatillos, husked, rinsed
1 to 2 jalapenos, stemmed
1 fresh, large leafy stem of epazote, or 5 springs cilantro - Can't find epazote in this area, so cilantro it is!
3 garlic cloves
1/3 c onion, coarsely chopped
1 tsp sea salt or kosher, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Garnishes:
5 to 6 limes, cut in wedges
10 radishes, rinsed, halved and thinly sliced
1 head romaine, rinsed, drained and thinly sliced
4 tbsp. onion, finely chopped
1 avocado, halved, pitted, meat scooped out and dried
piquin chile or a mix of dried chiles, ground
dried oregano
tostados

1. Place hominy in a large soup pot with cold water at least 3" on top. Take off the skin layers from the head of garlic and add it to the pot. Do not add salt; it will toughen the hominy. Bring to boil, then gently simmer over med low heat uncovered for three hours or until hominy is tender and has begun to "bloom" open up.

-or-

Just buy your hominy.

We add the head of garlic with the onion and cilantro to the stock pot when we cook the chicken.

2. Place chicken (or chicken and pork) and extra giblets in a large soup pot and cover with at least 1 inch of water above the meat. Add the white onion, cilantro and a tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered until chicken is cooked and tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid (broth). Set the giblets and any garlic you might want aside for the slurry. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and bones and shred the meat into bite size pieces.

3. Meanwhile, make the green pozole sauce. Place tomatillos, garlic cloves and jalapenos into a med 3-quart saucepan. Cover with water and set over med. high heat. Bring to a simmer; cook until the tomatillos have changed color from a bright to a dull green and are soft but not breaking apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve 1/2c of the cooking liquid. Drain the cooked vegetables and set aside. I have seen other variations on this soup where you can also use 1/2c of the chicken broth you just got done making instead of the vegetable water. So feel free to use either or a mix since you likely made way more broth than you actually need to make a good big pot of soup (one of the reasons I love this recipe).

4. In a blender, add toasted pumpkin seeds and chop until finely ground. Then add the cooked tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic, onion, salt, anything you reserved from the stock pot (giblets, garlic, etc.), and water/broth. Puree until smooth. Heat the oil in a saucepan over med high heat until hot. Add the tomatillo sauce from the blender. Bring to a boil and simmer. 15 to 18 minutes, stirring occasionally, so it will thicken, season and deepen its color.

5. When the hominy is ready, incorporate the shredded chicken and its cooking broth. Add the green pozole sauce and the epazote or cilantro. Let it cook for 30 minutes more. Check for seasoning and serve.

Pozole is usually served alongside bowls of the garnishes. You put in your soup and add the garnishes you desire to it. Then you squeeze a twist of lime juice over it with tostadas to the side. I really love the avocado in mine.

Some things I really like about this: You can easily make enough chicken broth to freeze 2 to 4 cups in addition to having plenty for your soup. And the best broth is the stuff you make yourself. Better than having to buy cans every time you need some. This is also one of those pots of leftovers that just gets better with age. Day 1 is good; day 2 is even better.

a reply to: ketsuko

This looks great. I like the detailed instructions.

Post a pic in my Food Porn thread.

YAY!!!!
Pozole!

I'm not a big fan of Cilantro so, I prefer easy on it...
I think it's great to buy already "cooked" hominy...it's simple but, it is time consuming.

My Dad loved hominy...

I agree with the Mason...please post a pic to the food porn thread!

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
I agree with the Mason...please post a pic to the food porn thread!

There's a Mason here!?!?

Burn him!!!!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I agree!

LOL!



But who cares who is cooking the food!?

a reply to: TNMockingbird

Update everyone's clothes and it may look like a realworld experience from my pre-married days.

If I recall correctly, she has a red version too, but it was less interesting because it was manly pork and ground red chilis of various types.

We opted for the green because the pepita, tomatillo, chili sauce was more intriguing at the time although I do intend to try the red eventually.

a reply to: ketsuko

This looks delicious! I've made red with pork many times (making my own red sauce). I LOVE green, so I may try this. Thanks!

Ketsuko and everyone, you can find non-GMO ingredients by checking in the bulk foods section of your local independent natural foods store or food co-op:

1. Dried organic corn can be converted into hominy by soaking with spring water and Cal ... you can buy Cal powder at Latino markets or online: www.mrswages.com...

2. You can grow epazote from seed. If there is a large Latino supermarket in your area, you can find fresh or dried epazote there.

I have never seen the green sauce made with pumpkin seeds. I will have to try that. Thanks for the recipe.

One ingredient about this recipe is hominy. Where I live that means it has to be homemade. Have you any experience making this you can pass on?