By Popular Demand -- Our Posole Recipe

Posole is one of our very favorite things to eat. It is a soup or stew that is made with pork, hominy, red chile, and other seasonings. We garnish with various different things. Well, Papa Bear has never made it, and it's been about a year since we've had it, so last Saturday, he decided to make some. He called his mom and asked her how she makes it. (I've made it before, but it's been a LONG time!) Here is her "recipe"...the quick and easy version:

5 pounds of trimmed, bone-in pork shoulder (no excess skin or fat!)
Roughly 6 quarts of water (so now you know you need a BIG POT)

Season with PLENTY of salt...like 3 Tbsp. (the pork needs that flavor brought out)

3 to 4 28oz. cans of hominy (undrained)

3/4 of a 28oz. can of Las Palmas red chile sauce (med., unless your family likes HOT)

1 Tbsp. oregano

2-3 tsp. cumin

GARNISHES:

Shredded cabbage, lemon or lime juice, chopped onions, chopped radishes, chopped cilantro, avocado, etc. Whatever is to your liking. We typically use the cabbage, lemon juice, and onions.

PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:

Cut up pork (cut off the bone) into 1"x1" cubes...bite-size pieces. Cook pork, along with the bone, in water with salt, in a big pot (about 10 quart size), for about 40-45 minutes or until pork is tender and cooked through. Scoop out about 1 quart of broth (you can save this for another recipe at a later time, or add back in to the posole), and set aside.

Add hominy, red chile sauce, oregano and cumin to the pork and broth. Cook on medium heat...let it simmer for about 40 minutes to an hour...stirring occasionally.

Taste. Add salt, additional herbs/spices, or red chile sauce if needed. Dilute with the set aside pork broth if it is TOO spicy.

Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired. My favorite garnishes are the chopped red onion, freshly squeezed lemon juice, salt, and a little more oregano.

We love to spread a little sour cream on some tostada shells, and sprinkle on a little salt. These are the perfect match for your bowl of posole.

Now go and make some, and let me know how it turns out! It's PERFECT for a cold wintery day! By the way, we ended up with about 2-3 quarts of leftover posole after eating our fill!

Here are our bowls of posole:

Papa Bear's Bowl: Shredded cabbage, chopped red and yellow onion, fresh lemon wedges, oregano

Mama Bear's Bowl: (already mixed in) Chopped red onion, fresh lemon juice, oregano

Brother Bear's Bowl: Fresh lemon juice, oregano, and shredded cabbage

Now, while Baby Bear can't quite handle the textures in the posole, he LOVED the broth! When I let him try some, he promptly signed "more"!

Eat Well!

Mama Bear