NEW MEXICO POSOLE RECIPES

Steps:

• Makes 16 servings INSTRUCTIONS Cook the pork in a pressure cooker, with water to cover, for 20 minutes. Reduce pressure under cold water. Open pot and add posole, lime juice, and chile. Add water—about twice as much as the amount of posole. Cook for 45 minutes under pressure. Reduce pressure under cold water. Remove the pork and cut up. Put posole, pork, garlic, oregano, and salt in a large heavy covered pot and simmer 1–3 hours, or until hominy kernels have burst and are soft but not mushy. Serve alone or as a side dish. Freezes well. Note: These times are set for Santa Fe’s higher altitude. At lower altitudes, where the boiling point is higher, you may wish to try shorter cooking times at first. MY MODIFICATIONS I had a feeling that modern pressure cookers are much more efficient than the one used during the development of this recipe, and I expect the restaurant made large batches of posole, which would extend the stovetop cooking time. My Fissler six-quart pressure cooker had the posole almost ready to serve after 45 minutes, and I only needed 20 minutes on the stovetop. Tasting is the best way to tell; as the recipe says, the kernels should be tender but not mushy. Don’t trim any fat from the shoulder; it will lend more flavor to the dish. The 3 tablespoons of salt made it way too salty for me. Start with 2 teaspoons and go from there. I recommend more oregano, using Mexican oregano, at least 1 teaspoon. For the red chile powder, look for chile caribe; you’ll find the Los Chileros brand in most grocery stores. Finally, ask Santa for a pressure cooker or Instant Pot! At my 7,000-foot elevation, you almost have to use one to speed up the cooking time. (You lose about 1 degree off the boiling point for every 500 feet above sea level.)

Steps:

• Combine all the ingredients, except the salt and hominy in a pot.
• Simmer the stew over low to moderate heat, uncovered, for 2 - 3 hours until the meat is very tender. If the mixture becomes too dry while cooking, add more water. (About mid way through this time, I fish out the chiles and gently scrape the now fully reconstituted inner flesh from the paper like skins. Stir the chile flesh back into the stew and throw the skins away.) About 1/2 hour before the stew is done add canned hominy.
• When posole is done, add salt to taste. The stew should be a sort of soupy stew, best served like chili, in bowls.