Posole Rojo with I Heart Cooking Clubs & Souper Sunday's

Posole Rojo a Pork and Hominy Soup with Red Chile and Fresh Garnishes Inspired by Rick Bayless

Yique and Birria Tacos

Yique to go, BYOB (Bring Your Own Bucket)

The first thing I thought about making when I learned the theme for this week was Soups and Sides was Yique.  I love Yique it is a very rich meaty broth with kernels of corn and the earthy rich flavor of avocado leaves.  But alas I cannot find a recipe.  My Suegra gave me the recipe once, forgetting to mention the avocado leaves and the hominy which are the key ingredients!  Basically she sabotaged my recipe.  The second best thing to Yique is Posole.  Know as a hangover cure for those not wanting Menudo, you can usually find it at your local Taqueria on Sundays.  But it is relatively easy to make at home, most of the time is spent in letting it simmer away.


I used Rick's recipe as a reference, but used my own Sazon.  The basics of posole are this (for any color) meat rich broth, chilies and hominy.  Remembering these three things, you can make your own recipe any way that you like. Posole recipes change from town to town and state to state.  Some states make Green Posole, many of them make Red, there is a rare White Posole and in Oaxaca they have a chili rich mole that they add to a very thick corn based broth during service.  That said I do not think I was being rude to Rick in adapting his recipe with my own style.

Pozole Rojo Inspired By Rick Bayless, Authentic Mexican pg 107

Ingredients: (that I used) Makes 4 Quarts

1/2 Pig Trotter

4 Pieces Pork Spine

2 lbs Rump Roast, Cubed

2 Large Garlic Cloves

2 Ancho Chilies

3 Guajillo Chilies

1 baby Chipotle

1 Avocado leaf

1 Large Can of Hominy

1 Tomato Bullion Cube

To Serve:

Shredded Lettuce or Cabbage

Chopped Onion

Rough Chopped Cilantro

Lime Wedges

Mexican Oregano

Tostadas

Crema

Farmers Cheese

Instructions:
A few hours before bed I browned the meat and then simmered it for hours with the garlic until the water had reduced by nearly half.  I like Pork in my Posole, but Chicken is also popular.  I could not find all the cuts that Rick suggested in his book so instead I used 1/2 Trotter, 4 pieces of Spine and about 2 pounds of Rump Roast Cubed.  (I made 4 quarts)


I let the meat cool over night and shredded it in the morning, then set it aside.  I had a thick gelatinous soup left from the bones, to this I added some beef stock that I had in the freezer (I think I was really craving Yique and so my flavors leaned heaver in that direction).


While the broth was warming up I toasted the chilies, I used Rick's recommendation of Ancho and Guajillos (I used 2 Ancho and 3 Guajillo).  I love these two chilies together one is toasty and you can smell the spice, the other almost has a prune or raisin smell to it, it is smokey and just a little bit sweet.  I cleaned the chilies of the seeds and veins because we really like to taste the chilies, not just feel the pain.  I also tossed in one Chipotle chili for an added kick.  I have been playing around with Chipotles lately, and have been really enjoying them.  I reconstituted the chilies as directed and then tossed them in the blender.  I added the puree to my broth and tossed in an Avocado leaf for good measure.


Once the flavors of the broth were coming together I rinsed the canned hominy that I purchased and added it and the shredded pork to the pot.  I also added a cube of Tomoato Bullion, I like to add these cubes to my soups, rice and beans instead of salt at the final simmering stage.  I find that it never over salts the dish and we end up using less salt at the table.  It is a silly little trick that I use.  I let it simmer for an hour or so, but I could have just brought it to a boil and dug in.  I wanted the flavors to seep into the hominy just a little bit more.

We served it in big steaming bowls with a platter of shredded lettuce (cabbage is also delicious), lime wedges, chopped onion, cilantro and Mexican Oregano.  On the side we had Tostadas, smeared with Crema and sprinkled with Farmers Cheese.  This added a nice cooling factor to the meal, even though I cleaned the chilies the soup was still nice and spicy (I think it was the baby Chipotle I added at the last minute, those puppies are Smoking HOT).

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