I have made my Pozole many times before but until this weekend I had never tried making it with pork. It has always been with the meat in the original recipe which was chicken, a nod, I am sure, to the lower calorie, more "good-for-you" nature of that meat.But as I prepared this version of this delicious Latin stew I realized early in the process what I had been missing all this time. It's the pork!
We had some very good friends from Canada down for dinner last night and the consensus was that this stuff was amazing! We have more friends coming tonight to finish off the couple of gallons I made in my largest enameled dutch oven. I promised our friends I would post this recipe so here goes...
Quick Chicken Pozole
(Don't panic, the pork version is below)
Makes 3-4 servings
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salad oil
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can (10 ounces) red enchilada sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans (15 ounces each) hominy (1 white, 1 yellow), rinsed and drained
For the garnish: lime wedges, chopped cilantro, sour cream, chunks of avocado, shredded lettuce, cheese and or chopped red onion
In a 3-4 quart pan combine garlic, onion, oregano and oil. Cook stirring often over medium-high heat until the onion is lightly browned. When the onion is browned, add the chicken pieces. Cook until browned. Add enchilada sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender and cooked through. Add hominy and reheat to simmering. Serve. Garnish!
In this version there are 362 calories per serving and 5.4 grams of fat. Good for you, right?
Now for the pork version. Replace the chicken for an equal amount of pork shoulder. Cut as much fat from the meat as you can to help the cause but remember that fat is where the flavor comes from so don't get too carried away!
I pre-heat the oil in a dutch oven. Toss in the pork chunks and let them caramelize. In another pan brown off the onion, garlic and oregano. Add that to the pork. Add the enchilada sauce and chicken broth. Use a good quality broth. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook until the pork chunks are tender. Add in the hominy and heat them through. Serve topped with your choice of garnishes.
