This pulled pork and hominy stew from Mexico is one of my favorites. I order a turkey version from a local joint here in Indy called "Yats." No need to worry for you out of towners because this version is better than any pozole I've ordered out. Pulled this recipe from my go to cook book: "The Best New Recipe" by Cook's Illustrated. It turned out excellent! I recommend a nice margarita to wash it all down. This was also my first attempt at making homemade flour tortillas. I watch a lot of PBS these days, and Rick Bayless has a superb mexican cooking show. He made his with pork lard, but much to my dismay I couldn't find any at the store, so I had to substitute crisco. Once I find some lard I will cook them again and post the recipe. (fyi: they were still very tasty using crisco, but I'm predicting they will be out of this world with pork lard)
POZOLE ROJO
STEW:
1 Bone-in Picnic Shoulder Roast (about 5 lbs.)
Salt / Pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium-large onions, chopped coarse
5 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 oz. dried ancho chiles (about 3 large)
1 ½ cups boiling water
3 (15-oz) cans white or yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
GARNISHES:
Lime
Romaine Lettuce, sliced into thin strips
Radishes, sliced thin
Onion, minced
Cilantro
Hot Sauce
Serve with flour or corn torillas, warmed
INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Move oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Trim the thick skin and excess fat from the meat and cut along the muscles to divide the roast into large pieces of various sizes; reserve the bones. Season the meat generously with salt and pepper.
2) Heat oil in large ovenproof Dutch oven over medium heat; add the onions and some salt. Cook until onions have softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3) Add the meat and bones and stir often until it is no longer pink on the outside, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, broth, and some salt. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. With a large spoon, skim off any scum. Cover the pot and place it in the oven. Cook until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.
4) Meanwhile, remove the stems and seeds from the ancho chiles; soak the chiles in a medium bowl with the boiling water until soft, about 20 minutes. Puree the chiles and soaking liquied in a blender until smooth. Pour the puree through into a bowl.
5) Remove the pot from the oven and remove the meat and bones to a cutting board. Stir in the hominy and the ancho chile puree. Cover and bring the stew to a simmer on top of the stove over medium-low heat. Cook until the hominy is hot and the flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
6) When the meat is cool, shred it using your fingers or the tines of 2 forks; discard the bones. Stir the shredded meat and simmer until the meat is hot. Adjust the seasoning. Ladle the stew into individual bowls and serve immediately with the garnishes.
Looks Dank, extra points for the radish garnish. Couldn't you just use some bacon fat for the pork lard? Have you ever made corn tortillias?
ReplyDeleteI did some research and apparently bacon fat is not a substitute for pork lard. The meat from the bacon gives the lard a whole different flavor from traditional pork lard, which is rendered from different parts of the pig. At least that's my understanding, I'm not completely sure of the differences. I've never made corn tortillas or flour tortillas. Pretty sure a press of some sort would have made the process much simpler. Have you made them?
ReplyDeletehmm, that's interesting, sounds like you need to make a trip to jungle jims. Yeah, a press would have made life a lot easier, maybe you could put a ball of dough between two sheets of saran wrap and then press it down with the bottom of a heavy skillet. I've never made them, but I'm willing to give it a try. I'd like to make corn tortillas, I guess it would be a similar process and you just use masa instead of flour.? I've also been thinking about making some fresh pasta, seems pretty easy, but then again- a pasta roller would make it a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteNot a bad idea! We need Urban in on this discussion; he's the corn tortilla making guru.
ReplyDeleteMan, that raised the bar on the blog. Good thing I have a pork shoulder in my fridge. did you use my margarita recipe?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have a tortilla press. I bought a small one (8")and in hindsight should've bought the bigger burrito size. Its okay but i usually end up rolling it a little more to make it thinner, the leveners in the recipe tend to make it more like a pita if you don't.
http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Cast-Aluminum-Tortilla-Press/dp/B00004UE8E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1267376270&sr=8-3
As to the lard, I have never used it (I AM still married to Beth). I actually just put the pressed dough onto a hot and dry griddle. I use this recipe from epicurious, but substitue whole wheat flour for half of the AP. It has some oil in the dough, so maybe that keeps it from sticking.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Basic-Flour-Tortilla-102301
As a side note, Rick Bayless is the man. where is hist tortilla recipe?
ReplyDeleteYou have a pork shoulder just hanging around in your fridge! Nice. Leeann made the margaritas. Think it was a Rachel Ray recipe. (4 bottles bear + 1 cup tequila + 1 frozen lime concentrate = happy times) Would have made yours but we had a lot of beers in the fridge to get rid of. The tortilla recipe from Bayless doesn't use any leveners, just flour, crisco, salt and water. Pretty sure they don't have leveners in rural Mexico, and Bayless is hardcore Mexico! Tell Beth she needs to get down with pork lard. 9 out of 10 dieticians recommend at least one serving of pork lard daily to keep the body organs well lubricated.
ReplyDelete