Recipe - Pozole

3 pound Pork shoulder
(or shoulder chops),
with bones in
29 ounce White hominy (one
can), with packing juice
6 Garlic cloves
2 tablespoon Chili powder
(or more to taste)
2 teaspoon Salt

Put the pork shoulder piece(s) in a large kettle. Don't bother to cut them
up. Cover with cold water, about 10 cups. Slowly bring to a simmer,
uncovered. As it simmers for the first 10 minutes or so, skim off any scum
that rises to the surface. (It will stop appearing after this.)

Simmer, partially covered, for at least two hours. Don't let too much water
boil away; just leave the lid a bit ajar so a small amount of steam can
escape.

Remove from heat. Remove the pork pieces from the broth and cut the meat
from the bones. Discard the bones. Cut the meat in medium chunks (whatever
size is appropriate for stew) and return it to the broth.

Crush or mince the garlic. Add the hominy with its juice, garlic, chili
powder and salt to the pork and broth. Adjust the chili powder to your
taste. The estimate here is for a mild storebought unblended spice and
will produce a mild pozole. If you grind your own chiles, they may be
hotter. If you use a blend of chili powder and other spices (which is not
recommended), you will probably want to reduce the salt. Remember that
chili powder becomes mellowed and less spicy as it cooks.

Return to heat and simmer (partially covered as before) for another two
hours. By this time, some of the meat will still be in chunks, and some
will be shredded. Skim the grease from the top; there may be quite a bit.
Check for salt before serving. (Don't try to add anything else at the end;
chili powder and garlic need time to cook.)

I serve this with corn tortillas, wrapped in foil and warmed in the oven
for ten or fifteen minutes.

NOTES:

* A simple New Mexican holiday stew This stew is from New Mexico. It is
traditionally served on special days, such as Christmas Eve or New Year's
Eve.

* An alternate way of cooking the stew is to simmer the pork for at least
one hour, remove the bones and add the other ingredients as described
above, and cook covered in a slow oven (275 (135 ) for several hours.

: Difficulty: moderate.
: Time: 1 hour preparation, 2 hours cooking.
: Precision: Approximate measurement OK.

: Vicki O'Day
: HewlettPackard Laboratories, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.
: hplabs!oday

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini