Recipe for "pozole"

NAME

     POZOLE - 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.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4-4)

     1.5 kg    pork shoulder (or shoulder chops), with bones in
     850 g     white hominy (one can), with packing juice
     5-6        garlic cloves
     30 ml     chili powder (or more to taste)
     10 ml     salt

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Put the pork shoulder piece(s) in a large  kettle.
               Don't  bother  to  cut  them  up.  Cover with cold
               water, about 2.5 l.
          (2)  Slowly bring to a simmer, uncovered.  As  it  sim-
               mers  for the first 10 minutes or so, skim off any
               scum that rises to the  surface.   (It  will  stop
               appearing after this.)
          (3)  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.
          (4)  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  (what-
               ever  size  is appropriate for stew) and return it
               to the broth.
          (5)  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 store-
               bought 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.
          (6)  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.)

NOTES

     I serve this with corn tortillas, wrapped in foil and warmed
     in the oven for ten or fifteen minutes.
     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 (135 deg. C) for several hours.

RATING

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

CONTRIBUTOR

     Vicki O'Day
     Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, Palo Alto, California, U.S.A.
     hplabs!oday