Posole

I love posole. I don't just like it, I love it. I hope you'll try it, because I think you'll love it, too.
A beautiful lady from Guanajuato, Mexico gave me this recipe. The only thing I do differently is call the ingredients by English names. Especially since I only know the Spanish names for chicken, pork, onion and hominy. You can adapt this recipe to a crock-pot easily, if you want to let it cook itself while you bound off to your exciting job.


Posole

If you're making Chicken Posole, start with:
Stock:
one whole chicken or one cut-up fryer OR one pork roast, cut into bite-size cubes
1 head of garlic cut in half at the “equator”
1 large onion, cut into quarters, skin and all
1 red bell pepper, well washed, cut into quarters, seeds and all
4 stalks celery cut into large chunks
3 bay leaves
olive oil

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, over medium-high, brown the onion quarters very well on all sides (almost burned is good). Add garlic halves and saute until a pretty warm gold. Or else, cheat and use roasted garlic in the first place. Remove the onion and garlic to a bowl, add a little more olive oil to the pan and throw in the bell pepper and celery, saute until brown in places, add bay leaves and continue to saute until everything is nicely carmelized. Remove to the bowl with the onions.

Brown the chicken in the same pot. Cover with cold water and simmer until the chicken is almost tender enough to fall off the bones. Remove chicken and let rest until cool enough to handle, then pull the meat from the bones. Strain the vegetables from the stock and set the stock aside. Discard the veggies. You got all the goody out of them by now. Bring the stock back up to a simmer.

If you're making Pork Posole: brown it very well on all sides for the best flavor later. Cover with half chicken stock and half water (use commercially prepared stock to save time, if you want, but you can get several meals out of the one chicken if you do that step first) and simmer until the pork is tender. Strain the pork out and set aside, return stock to a simmer.

To the stock, add
2 large cans of hominy (rinsed well)
1 cup of diced green chilis
2 good handfuls of pearl barley (or rinsed quinoa)
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano or 2 tablespoons fresh oregano
a handful fresh chopped parsley
black pepper to taste
2/3 cup prepared enchilada sauce: green for chicken posole (Posole Verde), red for pork (Posole Rojo)

simmer until the onion is tender, return the meat to the pot. Thicken with a little cornstarch, if you like. Serve with shredded cabbage, diced avocado, lime quarters, fresh cilantro (chopped) and tortillas.