Pozole

It is freezing outside! There is something about the Kentucky cold that affects me more than the Nebraska winter ever did. I'm thinking its the damp - Kentucky is the wettest state in the continental US. Owensboro is right on the Ohio river, too, which only adds to the pain. Sinks into my bones, this cold does!

The solution to cold days is soup, of course. Spicy soup, savory soup. Sunday turned out to be a very wet day in Kentucky. It rained, literally, the entire day! And the day before that, too. And the day before that... When the rain stopped, the temperature dropped to around 20 degrees - so, went from 60 degrees, to 20, in a day. Yikes! Shocked my system.

Pozole is a traditional Mexican soup. I found the recipe off another cooking blog - FoodWineThyme.com. A very cute blog, and full of good recipes! I'd never heard of Pozole until stumbling across it on FoodWineThyme. I've been wanting to try more 'authentic' Mexican recipes for some time now, and can never get enough of any food that is spicy, so I gave it a shot.

Finding the unusual guajillo chilies was the first challenge. I'd assumed I was going to have to order them online (available on amazon.com), but while exploring a grocery store I rarely-if-never-ever go to (Save-a-lot, which is kind of gross, but I'm never afraid to explore), I found a HUGE Mexican section. Had all kinds of unusual peppers, got my bag of 12 guajillos for $2.50! Loves me a good deal.

The guajillo chilies released the most amazing fragrance while roasting on the frypan. I'm trying to come up with a word to describe it - pungent, but in a way like Jamaican All-spice. Very unique. I loved it. Soaking them softens the peppers for blending. Mine were still a little tough after 25 minutes, it might be better to let them go for 30 minutes instead.

Roasted tomatoes are a delightful eating joy that I do not take advantage of enough. Roasting brings out flavors in a food in ways that no other cooking method can. The best form of roasting is over an open fire, aka grilling. My only wish was that I'd had fresh, from the garden tomatoes, instead of these store bought ones. Nothing could be tastier than home grown, uber umami garden tomatoes. (Umami, by the way, is a word to describe the unusual savory flavor in a tomato.)

John and I both really liked this soup. Not too spicy, just enough to warm you up. Make sure to blend the guajillos really well, if you leave large chunks, then you WILL be in for spicy shock! Removing the seeds from the peppers reduces spiciness, too. Guajillos are definitely not a hot pepper, however. Mild, with an unusual flavor. There are so many pepper types out there that are mostly unknown in American cuisine.

A very tasty dish! Time consuming, but worth it.



 

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Pozole

Adapted from Food Wine Thyme January-15-2013

A savory, spicy traditional Mexican soup

Ingredients

• 3 medium tomatoes
• 4 dried guajillo chiles, stem cut and seeds discarded
• 1 large onion, sliced thick
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken or pork
• 2 TBS white vinegar
• 1 TBS chili
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 14 oz can hominy, drained and rinsed
• 1 14 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
• to taste salt and pepper
• topping - lettuce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees farenheit. Cut an X at the top of each tomato and roast about 15 min. Wrap your baking pan with aluminum foil to make clean up easy.2. Toast guajillo chilis in a skillet about 3 min on each side and move to a bowl. Top w/ hot water, cover bowl with a plate and let sit 25 minutes.3. In a blender, combine roasted tomatoes, drained chilis, vinegar, onion and garlic.4. While doing top three instructions, boil meat. Once cooked, pull apart. (I used chicken breasts with skins and bones. Once cooked, I removed the skin, pulled meat off bones, and returned bones and skin to pot to used water to create a stock. No salty store bought stock or broth for this dish!)5. Simmer the sauce about 15 minutes, adding 4 cups chicken stock and spices. Add pulled meat. Add more stock as necessary to keep the same consistency. 6. Season with salt and pepper. Add hominy and beans. Simmer until beans and hominy are fully cooked. 7. Serve with lettuce and white Mexican cheese. Additional toppings - avocado, lime juice, diced onion.

Yield: 8 servings