Elixir of Life
The true “chicken soup for the soul”, once you taste a rich pozole, you will never go back to a feeble, tomato-water chili. The charred pepper sauce creates a spicy base for the star ingredient: hominy, the hearty queen of corn. Full of density and complex flavors, pozole will fill you up and chase away the blues. Pozole delivers a meal by itself, accepts a multitude of garnishes and sides, and is flexible to accommodate your personal flare.
Music accompaniment
“Cucurrucucú Paloma”
by Lila Downs
Ingredients
- 4 cups stock
- 1 ½ cups protein (meatless “meat”, soy crumbles, jackfruit shreds, or beans)
- 4 tomatoes
- 10-15 dried chile peppers (arbol, guajillo, ancho, New Mexico)
- 1 Spanish onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1-2 fresh peppers (serrano, jalapeno or poblano to your taste)
- 1 large carrot
- 1 medium package of mushrooms
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 can of hominy (1 ½ cups)
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon of coriander
- ½ cup beer
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Lime, cilantro, radish, and green onion (or sofrito) for garnish
Make
- De-seed dried peppers and brown in dry skillet
- Fire roast tomatoes over burners or in broiler
- Chop ½ onion and 3 garlic cloves
- Add 2 cups of stock to a small pot and all above ingredients and bring to low boil until peppers and onions are softened
- Add to blender, push mixture through a strainer, and reserve the sauce
- In a large pot, add olive oil on low heat
- Add in remaining onion, garlic, protein, chiles, and spices. Sauté for a few minutes until browning begins.
- Deglaze pot with good beer.
- Pour in sauce
- Dice mushrooms and carrots and add to pot
- Add in hominy
- Add in remaining stock and simmer for 20 minutes until hominy are softened and “chewy”
Serve
- Add a squeeze of lime and garnish with cilantro, radish, and green onions
- Alternative or additional garnishes: dollop of sofrito, shredded cabbage, and avocado slices
- Drink the rest of the beer and another
- Serve with aqua frescas, crusty bread, and seasonal fruit