Posole

Posole is a traditional Mexican soup, often served around the holidays, especially at New Years. I haven't made it in a while but today my 5 year old was asking me if I would buy some nixtamal (fresh hominy) and make some so I've added it to my list of menus for the week after Thanksgiving.

Nixtamal looks like this:

Nixtamal can be found in any supermarket in the Southwestern US in the dairy/deli cooler. In other areas of the country it can most likely be found in a Mexican or ethnic market. If you can't find it, canned hominy will do just fine.

Traditionally posole is served with a squeeze of lemon juice, a sprinkle of chopped, fresh cilantro, a few dahses of hot sauce and bollilos on the side.




Posole

2 qt. water
1 lb. stew meat (beef or pork cut into small cubes)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 white onion, sliced
1 c. nixtamal, rinsed well (or 2 lb. can hominy, drained)
1 c. dried pinto beans, sorted and rinsed
1 Tbsp. New Mexico chili powder
1 Tbsp salt (or more to taste)

Bring water to a boil, rinse meat and add to water with garlic. When meat begins to brown, add salt. Mix in beans, nixtamal and onion. turn heat down to low and cook 3 hours or until beans and nixtamal are tender. Add more water and stir as needed while cooking.