Author Archives: Nancy

POSOLE VERDE

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Posole or pozole is a traditional Mexican soup or stew.  Posole comes in all the colors of the Mexican flag (i.e., green, white, and red).  No matter which version you make, hominy is a key ingredient.  You can read about the process of making hominy here, which involves a process called nixtamalization.  (I know, I know . . . z-z-z-z-z-z.)

While we’re still enjoying cool weather, I busted out the stockpot and made Posole Verde  — for all you non-Spanish speakers, that would be the green version.  Despite all the naysayers on the internet, I used canned hominy, as opposed to searching for Latino markets with dried hominy and then soaking it overnight.  So much easier to just pop the top on this can of hominy and get on with things:

While I was making the soup, I could not get the phrase “homina, homina, homina” out of my head — a phrase made popular by Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, used to express “shock, befuddlement, or general speechlessness.”  As I puttered around the kitchen, I found myself alternately muttering “homina, homina, homina” and “hominy, hominy, hominy” to myself.   I definitely talk more to myself now that I’m an empty nester.

This soup is great — hearty, tangy from the tomatillos, satisfying.  Set out a plate of garnishes and let everyone prepare their own bowl.

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POSOLE VERDE
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 lbs tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved
  • 2 large poblano chiles, halved lengthwise
  • 1 large jalapeno, halved lengthwise
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 29-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ cup roasted and salted pepitas, ground
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Garnishes: thinly-sliced radishes, cilantro leaves, diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco, pepitas
Instructions
  1. Preheat the broiler. Place the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeño on a baking sheet (cover sheet with foil to make clean up easy). Broil vegetables, turning occasionally with tongs, until the skins of the peppers are blackened and the peppers have softened, approximately 15 minutes.
  2. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove and discard the seeds, stems, and blackened skins from the peppers. (Avoid touching eyes after handling jalapeños!)
  3. Transfer the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeño to a blender, and blend until almost smooth.
  4. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and cumin, and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, approximately 6-7 minutes. Add the tomatillo mixture and chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the hominy, shredded chicken, oregano, pepitas, and cilantro, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. If soup is too thick, add a little more chicken stock to thin soup to desired consistency.
  5. Ladle the posole into bowls and garnish as desired with avocado, queso fresco, pepitas, radishes, and cilantro.

Roast the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeno

Pureed roasted vegetables

Grind the pepitas

Soup’s on
Avocado, queso fresco, pepitas, radishes, and cilantro for garnish

Hominy, hominy, hominy

TANGY GLAZED SHORT RIBS

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We had some weather excitement here in Houston last week.  It got cold.  Real cold, as in hard freeze cold.  We had snow (for the third time this winter!) and ice, and it stuck for 2 days.  The snow was really just a dusting — exciting for us, nevertheless — but the ice that formed on our highway overpasses forced our city to essentially shut down.

 

It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a “snow day.”  Growing up in New York, we could expect a few snow days every winter, and they usually involved cooking and baking, which not only made the house smell great, but kept the kitchen warm and inviting.  I loved hanging out in the kitchen on those days.

It was a given, then, that I would spend my snow day cooking.  I made chili, Italian wedding soup, and short ribs.  This recipe for Tangy Glazed Short Ribs is one of our special occasion dishes — in fact, we had it for Christmas Eve dinner.  The recipe, which we make in the slow cooker, is adapted from a Jean-Georges Vongerichten recipe that my husband ran across several years ago.  He handed me the recipe, saying “this looks good.”  And it is.  It’s a little involved, but not difficult, and worth every minute spent making it.  I like to make it at least a day in advance because like most soups and stews, it improves with age, and it also allows me to skim off the considerable amount of fat when it’s cool.  It’s best served over mashed potatoes, although no one will complain if you serve it over polenta or buttered noodles.

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TANGY GLAZED SHORT RIBS
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Recipe type: Beef, Main Course
 
Ingredients
  • 8 large short ribs
  • 4 star anise, finely ground
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, divided use
  • 1-1/2 cups ketchup
  • ½ cup pomegranate molasses
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon dried minced onion
  • 1 ancho chile, seeded, lightly toasted, and finely chopped
  • 1 chipotle pepper from canned chile in adobo
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 quart water
  • 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Instructions
  1. Place the ribs in a single layer on a platter. Sprinkle the ribs with star anise and 1 teaspoon salt, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
  2. In a blender, combine the ketchup, pomegranate molasses, vinegar, fish sauce, molasses, garlic powder, onion, ancho chile, chipotle, sesame oil, and ½ teaspoon salt. Blend on high speed until smooth. Add the water, and blend again until smooth.
  3. Preheat grill to high. Brush the ribs with grapeseed oil and place on the grill. Sear on all sides except the bony rib.
  4. Transfer ribs to slow cooker and cover with the sauce. Cook for approximately 6 hours on high, or until completely tender (they will fall off the bone). Transfer ribs to a baking dish. Strain the sauce and set aside.
  5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. To finish the ribs, add 1 to 1-1/2 cups of the strained sauce to the ribs and place them in the oven. Cook, basting frequently, until the sauce is thick, and the ribs are glazed, approximately 15 minutes. (Note: If you're pressed for time, you can omit this step and they will still be delicious, but do strain the sauce before serving.) Serve hot over mashed potatoes, polenta, or buttered noodles.

IMG_3173Season the ribs with star anise and salt and let them sit for an hour

My husband likes to sear them in a cast iron skillet on the grill

Ready for the slow cooker

In they go

006 (7)

Covered with sauce — see ya in 6 hours

Ready!