Preparation and delivery of meals and services related to soup (5USC601)

For a while, I have been chasing an unspoken cooking dream: making something that TJ would not feel a need to slather with hot sauce. Finally, with the help of my great aunt, I have achieved that dream. Recently, she shared with me her recipe for pozole, which she likely developed with influence from her time living in New Mexico.

Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew, has been on my agenda of ethnic dishes for a while, so I was excited that I could actually use a family recipe, especially since we do not have Latin blood (or rhythm) in our lineage. I had found a recipe through the Food Network for pozole verde, but when my aunt told me about how she and my great uncle like their soups super spicy, I was sold. The ingredients are rather unassuming, but as my sinuses can assure you, they definitely pack a punch:

Jan's Posole

1 C. flour

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

3-4 boneless pork loin chops

1/2 tsp. dry minced garlic

2 med. onions, coarsely chopped

1 (14 oz.) can beef broth
2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth

2 (4.5 oz.) diced green chilies

2 (15.5 oz.) cans white hominy with juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend flour, pepper, paprika, and garlic salt, and set aside. Wash and pat dry loin chops. Cut chops into one-inch cubes. Dredge in flour mixture and brown in oil. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 2 to 3 hours. Serve with heated, buttered flour tortillas and your choice of shredded cheese either sprinkled on top of soup or tortillas.

As the list of ingredients says, I used four chops, but the ones sold here in Mexico are pretty thin (below left), so next time, I would definitely use more, maybe even some rib meat, as my aunt suggests. She and I also agree that the most effective and flavorful way of browning the pork is to do so in the same pot as you will cook the stew (below right), so you don't lose any of the juices.

Considering the soup cooks for hours, it seems strange to precook the pork (below left), but trust me, it helps keep the meat tender. Following that logic, I decided to also sweat the onions and garlic with the pork for a while (below right), so the flavors would fully merge.

I added the other ingredients in stages. Since I was using stock made from dried cubes instead of canned broth, I made sure they were fully dissolved with some water in the pork-onion-garlic mixture (below left). Then I added the cans of hominy and jalapeños (below right). Strangely enough, I could find only one small can of chopped chiles in the Mexican supermarket, so I also squirted in some jalapeño relish. I probably added more than was called for, wrongly assuming that our Scoville tolerance was higher than my aunt's.

I let the soup simmer for about 2-1/2 hours. There seemed to be a lot of the flour dredge left over, so I added it into the pot a little at a time over the course of cooking, which made the soup thicker. I actually can't imagine how much spicier it would've been if I hadn't thickened it. As suggested by the recipe, I served the pozole with some shredded cheese, but instead of tortillas, I opted for some bolillos left over from our camping trip, which were getting crusty after spending a weekend in our car.

By rote, TJ got out his hot sauce and jalapeño slices as soon as I announced dinner was ready. I even set out the rest of the jalapeño relish just in case. Much to my delight, all of the condiments were put back into the refrigerator unused. I must acknowledge, though, that many tissues were harmed during the eating of this meal.