"When daddy's quit staying
And the mommas quit praying
Even the children quit tryin'
God must be crying
Cause even the skies are blue"
Instantly classic lyrics but that's not my point in putting them here, I put them there cause when I heard that song I was reminded of memories. What the heck do memories have to do with Grandma's Posole? Grandma's Posole is one of the few recipes I can recite by heart. Posole is a Mexican stew with chunks of pork (or chicken) in a broth seasoned with red chilies, and made hearty with hominy. If I haven't lost you by now, please keep reading.
Grandma has a few recipes that I just love to cook. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to find out from her how she makes them and make some of those recipes my own. Rice soup, sopa de fideo (Pasta soup), sopa de albondigas (meatball soup) and her posole are the few that I am proud of. The recipes for soup are the most forgiving (in other words I couldn't mess them up), and the posole is closest to my heart. The chunks of pork, the hearty broth, finely chopped onions, shredded lettuce and tostadas or even tortillas make this something I will never tire of, just like a classic country lyric.
The version below (with the exception of the hominy) is from scratch. In place of the scratch made chili paste you can use a 10 oz can of Las Palmas chili sauce, it works in a pinch, everybody knows my Grandma did it!
Grandma's Posole
Ingredients
Pork and broth
1 1/2 - 2 lbs pork country style ribs cut into chunks
2 tbsp oil
3 quarts water
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
salt to taste
2 large cans of hominy
Chili paste
4 cups water
2 oz dried Pasilla chilies
2 oz dried New Mexico chilies
2 oz dried Ancho chilies
Remove the seeds from these chilies for a less spicy sauce
1 chipotle pepper w/ 1 tsp of adobo sauce
1 onion sliced
Accompaniments
Red pepper flakes
Chopped white onion
Mexican oregano
Sliced lettuce
Limes
Tostada shells
Broth
Begin by heating a large soup pot and add the oil, sear off the chunks of pork meat after searing all of the pork add salt, onion and garlic to the pan and sweat until translucent. Return the pork to the pot and all 3 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to about medium low to achieve a slow boil. Boil for one hour, stirring occasionally.
Chili paste/sauce
In a large sauce pan bring the water to a boil and add the dried chilies without the stems and the onion. Boil until the chilies are soft. Remove the chilies and onion, these ingredients to a blender and add about 1 1/2 cups of liquid from boiling process and chipotle chili and sauce blend until smooth. Taste for salt, if you like the smokiness of the adobo sauce you can add more. Put this sauce in the refrigerator overnight so the flavors can marry.
After the pork has boiled for one hour turn off the heat and place the pot in the refrigerator overnight. This will coagulate the fat on the top of the broth making it easier to remove. The next day bring broth to a boil and add the hominy and chili paste, boil for about 30 - 45 minutes stirring occasionally.
Accompaniments
At this point the stew is ready, however there are some cold ingredients that accompany this that bring all of the flavors to another level. All of these accompaniments can be added as you like. The spice of the red chili flakes and onion go right along with the broth making those spices blossom with each spoonful. The shredded lettuce work great to mellow those flavors, and the oregano, the floral oregano makes the pork taste even better. As for the lime, what Mexican soup whether it is chicken soup, posole or menudo doesn't taste better with lime. The tostadas bring along another element of crunch that brings the whole stew together.
This is it, you might find the task of making your own scratch made chili sauce daunting, but it really does make a difference, if you add another 1/2 cup of water and tweak the variety of chilies and you would have your own homemade "enchilada sauce".
Memories are like the cool evening breeze in L.A., you can count on them to be there just when you need them!
