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PORK-CHICKEN POSOLE
Peter Hoffman
of Savoy
Serves 8 to 10
5 cups dried posole kernels or 4 quarts canned hominy
(9 15-ounce cans)
8 ounces pork shoulder
8 ounces pork neck bones or vertebrae
1 small chicken
1/3 cup dried oregano
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 pound tomatillos, husked and washed
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
6 serrano chilies, seeded
2 ½ cups pumpkin seeds, toasted in a skillet
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Salad condiments: 1 cup diced red onion; 2 ripe
avocados, peeled and cut
into small chunks; 4 limes,
quartered; 12 corn tortillas,
fried until crisp and broken
into pieces; 8 radishes, sliced thin
If using dried posole corn, place the posole in a
large pot in about 6 quarts of unsalted water, and
cook for 3 to 4 hours, until the corn has softened.
(May be done the night before; allow the posole to
cool in the cooking broth overnight. Salt should be
added when the kernels are nearly tender.)
Add the pork shoulder, bones, chicken, oregano, and
garlic to the pot of posole. Bring to a boil, and skim
off the foam. (If using canned hominy, place the
kernels and their liquid in a large pot with the pork,
chicken, oregano, and garlic, along with 7½ cups
of water, to cover the meat.) Cover the pot, and
simmer for 2 hours more, until the meat is tender and
comes apart easily. Remove the meat from the liquid.
Continue cooking the hominy if necessary, until the
kernels are fully flowered and open. When the pork and
chicken are cool enough to handle, pull the meat off
the bones, and shred it.
Cook the tomatillos in 2 cups of the broth until they
are soft. Transfer them to a blender and add the
yellow onion, chilies, and toasted pumpkin seeds.
Purée, adding more broth if necessary. Heat the
olive oil in a skillet, add the tomatillo mixture, and
stir constantly until the mixture is cooked and begins
to brown a little. Pour the purée into the soup,
and cook for another hour on a low heat, stirring from
time to time, to make sure that the soup is not
sticking to the pot and burning.
Season well with salt. Just before serving, return the
shredded meat to the soup, and reheat. (The flavor of
the soup will improve if kept overnight.) Serve
sprinkled with the salad condiments.
Suggested menu: Crispy salads—sliced
cabbage, carrot, and jícama;
escarole-and-frisée salad with cilantro dressing;
Pork-and-chicken posole; Apple tart with
goat’s-milk-caramel sauce.
Photograph by William Meppem
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