Easy Chicken Pozole

I had some extra corn from my masa experiments and decided to make pozole in the Mexican manner. In New Mexico and the Southwest, this means making a stew using prepared hominy, like we sell at Rancho Gordo. It Mexico, it means using canned or making nixtamal from dry, starchy corn by cooking it with CaL to remove the skins.

After all the masa making, I was feeling kind of lazy, so in a large clay pot, I plopped the treated corn, some skinned chicken thighs and legs, chile powder, onions, garlic, Mexican oregano and salt. I let is gently simmer for two hours and then shut the heat and went off to work. That evening, I heated it up again on very low and all I can say is wow. This would probably work well in a crock pot. The chicken was falling off the bone, which was a bit of a bother fishing out all the bones and cartlidge, but the flavor was worth the pain.

There's almost nothing as wonderful as a bowl of pozole, with the hint of fat gently shimmering on top, followed by some chopped onion, cilantro, a splash of pineapple vinegar or lime juice and a cool beer on the side.

Comments

[mimulus]

wow, is it safe to turn off the heat and leave it all day with chicken? I think the slow cooker sounds more compliant with the food safety angle. otherwise, tehat photo make s me salivate!

[Steven Sando]

It's probably not the best idea but it was a cool day and I live for danger. A slow cooker would be good but be sure and finish it for an hour or so with the lid off so some of the liquid can evaporate and make the soup more interesting and dense.

[Anita]

Cleaning out the freezer in preparation for the annual putting-up of summer's bounty, I found a bag of cooked posole and a whole chicken's worth of parts, cooked and frozen in its broth. I think I'll try to see if they can be salvaged together -- they have to be from early this year, but I figure that chile powder and mexican oregano hide a multitude of sins. :)