Party Posole Rojo Food

POZOLE ROJO

Steps:

• Diced avocado, crema, crumbled queso fresco, thinly sliced green cabbage, chopped white onion, sliced radishes, fried tortilla strips, dried chile de arbol and lime wedges, for serving
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Arrange the ancho, guajillo, pasilla and morita chiles on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and toast until beginning to brown (being careful not to char) and very fragrant and smells like toasted nuts, about 5 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet.
• Increase the oven to 450 degrees F. Spread the hominy in an even layer on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast, tossing once, until lightly toasted, very fragrant and just beginning to brown on the edges of the baking sheet, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on the two largest sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a large plate.
• Add the garlic, onions and 6 1/2 teaspoons salt to the same pot. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender and beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the toasted chiles, oregano, peppercorns, clove and 10 cups water to the pot and bring to a boil. Nestle the pork into the pot; the liquid should come halfway up the sides of the pork. Arrange the cilantro, mint and bay leaves around the pork. Cover, reduce to low and cook until the pork is very tender and shreds easily, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
• Remove and discard the cilantro, mint and bay leaves. Transfer the pork to a large plate. When cool enough to handle, shred the pork into large pieces. Loosely cover with plastic wrap.
• Working in batches, puree the cooking broth and aromatics in a blender until completely smooth and no large pieces of chile remain. Season to taste.
• Wipe the pot clean. Add the chile puree and toasted hominy and simmer over medium heat, uncovered, until the flavors meld, the broth is rich and the hominy has plumped up and is tender, about 20 minutes.
• Stir the reserved pork into the pozole and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes.
• Divide the posole among bowls. Top with desired toppings and a squeeze of lime.
• The posole can be made up to 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

PARTY POSOLE ROJO

Steps:

• Posole:
• Drain hominy and place in a large heavy pot; add onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, 2 Tbsp. salt, and 12 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, still covered, stirring occasionally, until hominy starts to soften (some skins will split), about 1 hour.
• Sprinkle pork all over with cumin and remaining 1 Tbsp. salt. Add to pot along with garlic; pour in water to cover by 1". Partially cover pot and cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water as needed to keep ingredients covered, until hominy is tender (some may unfurl like popped popcorn, and that's okay) and pork is fall-apart tender, about 2 1/2 hours.
• Chile purée and assembly:
• While the posole is cooking, make the chile purée. Wearing gloves if you have them, remove stems from chiles and shake out and discard most of the seeds (for more heat, keep more seeds). Transfer to a large bowl and add onion and garlic; pour in boiling water to cover. Let sit until chiles are softened, about 30 minutes.
• Drain chile mixture, reserving soaking liquid, and transfer chiles, onion, and garlic to a blender. Add vinegar, brown sugar, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 cup soaking liquid and blend until smooth.
• When posole is done, remove pork, onions, and bay leaves from pot (keep posole simmering). Transfer pork to a plate; discard onions and bay leaves. Let pork cool slightly, then pick meat from bones, discarding any cartilage and larger pieces of fat. Shred meat into bite-size pieces and return to pot; discard bones.
• Stir chile purée into posole and let simmer 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Taste and season with more salt.
• Divide posole among bowls. Serve with avocado, cilantro, cabbage, jalapeños, radishes, lime wedges, sour cream, tortilla chips, and hot sauce alongside for topping.
• Do Ahead
• Posole can be made 4 days ahead. Let cool, then cover and chill.

POSOLE ROJO

Steps:

• Break the stems off the chiles de arbol and ancho chiles and shake out as many seeds as possible. Put the chiles in a bowl and cover with boiling water; weigh down the chiles with a plate to keep them submerged and soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Transfer the chiles and 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid to a blender. Add the smashed garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pushing the sauce through with a rubber spatula; discard the solids.
• Rub the pork all over with the cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high. Push the onion and garlic to one side of the pot; add the pork to the other side and sear, turning, until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in 2 cups water, the chicken broth, oregano, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of the chile sauce (depending on your taste). Bring to a low boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Partially cover and cook, turning the pork a few times, until tender, about 3 hours.
• Stir in the hominy and continue to simmer, uncovered, until the pork starts falling apart, about 1 more hour. Remove the bay leaf. Transfer the pork to a cutting board; roughly chop and return to the pot. Add some water or broth if the posole is too thick. Season with salt. Serve with assorted toppings and the remaining chile sauce.

POZOLE ROJO CON POLLO (MEXICAN RED POZOLE WITH CHICKEN)

Steps:

• Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat the oven to 500 degrees F (or heat a toaster oven). Cut a small X through the skin on the bottom of each tomato.
• Put the tomatoes on a small, rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and roast until tender and well charred, 20 to 25 minutes. When they're cool enough to handle, pull off and discard the skin.
• Meanwhile, stem the chiles and cut them open lengthwise with scissors or a knife. Remove the seeds and any large ribs.
• Heat a comal, a griddle, or a heavy-duty skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Toast half of the guajillo chiles, flipping and pressing them down with tongs or a spatula until fragrant and slightly darkened, about 1 minute.
• Transfer to a medium bowl. Repeat with the remaining chiles. Cover the chiles with cold water and soak until softened, about 30 minutes.
• While the chiles soak, toast the garlic and onion on the comal over medium-low heat until just tender, turning the garlic as needed and flipping the onion slices once, until golden-brown with some blackened spots, about 8 minutes for the garlic and 15 minutes for the onion.
• Drain the chiles and put them in a blender along with the tomatoes and any juice, the garlic, onion, cloves, and allspice. Puree, adding up to 1/2 cup water a little at a time as necessary, until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
• In a 6-quart Dutch oven or other heavy-duty pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the puree (it will splatter), reduce the heat to low and fry, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, until slightly thicker, about 5 minutes.
• Add 1 cup water, raise the heat to medium high, and bring to a boil. Stir in the vinegar, sugar, and 1 tbsp salt.
• Reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover the pot, and cook, stirring occasionally and adding a little water as needed to keep the sauce more or less at the same consistency, for 30 minutes.
• If you have a gas stove, turn two burners to high and char the poblanos directly over the flame, turning them with tongs as soon as each side becomes fully blackened, about 6 minutes.
• If you don't have a gas stove, char the poblanos on a foil-lined baking sheet under the broiler. Immediately put them in a bowl, cover, and let steam for 15 minutes to loosen the skins. When they're cool enough to handle, peel, seed, and slice them into 1/4 x 2-inch strips.
• Add the chicken, chicken broth, oregano, and 1 tbsp salt to the pot of chile sauce and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Tie the cilantro and mint together with kitchen string.
• Add the herb bouquet and the hominy to the pot and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through (cut into a piece to check), about 20 minutes. Remove and discard the herbs, then stir in the poblanos and cook until just heated through, about 5 minutes.
• To serve, divide the chicken legs and thighs among warm, large bowls. Ladle the pozole over the chicken. Garnish with the toppings or pass them at the table.

POZOLE ROJO (MEXICAN PORK AND HOMINY STEW)

Steps:

• Place hominy in a large pot; cover with water. Add 1 head garlic and salt to taste. Cook over medium heat for 2 hours.
• Place pork shoulder, pork loin, and pork neck bones in the hominy mixture and cook until meat is tender and cooked through, about 1 hour.
• Place tomato and guajillo chiles in a pot and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cook until chiles have softened, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain.
• Place tomato and chiles with salt, 1 clove garlic, oregano, and cumin in a blender; add 2 cups water. Blend until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and set chile sauce aside.
• Transfer pork to a work surface and shred with 2 forks. Discard the pork bones.
• Pour chile sauce into hominy mixture; bring to a boil. Return shredded pork to pot. Simmer pozole until flavors have blended, about 3 minutes.
• Ladle pozole into serving bowls and top with lettuce and onion and serve lime wedge on the side.