Adventures in Pozole

Can you believe it?! After being with someone from Mexico for over 7 years, living in Mexico for 4 months....I've never had Pozole! I should be shunned by the entire Mexican community. Thank God the stars aligned and I was enlightened!

So, I've recently stumbled across this A-MAZING food blog, bevcooks.com...I can almost guarantee that you'll be seeing a lot of my posts about her recipes. It's not that I don't have my own original recipes (cough cough, stolen from my Mom), but this week alone I've tried three of her recipes and each one has blown my mind and tantalized my taste buds.

Last night I attempted her somewhat laborious Pozole...the flavors were seriously amazing and it had just the right amount of heat as well. Here is my take on the recipe (since I didn't have every ingredient)...

Ingredients:

2 large beefsteak tomatoes
4 large dried guajillo peppers
10 cloves garlic, peeled
1 white onion cut into 1/2 inch rounds
3 Tbs. sriracha sauce
3 Tbs. vegetable oil
3 Tbs. distilled white vinegar
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 pounds chicken (skinless boneless thighs and breasts) (I would also love this without the chicken)
1 quart chicken broth
2 tsp dried oregano
2 (14.5 oz) cans white hominy, drained and rinsed
1 avocado finely diced
6 radishes finely sliced
1 lime

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 500. Score an X in the bottom of each tomato and place them on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Roast tomatoes for 25 minutes, until softened and slightly charred all over.
2. Cut the stems off the guajillo chiles and slice them lengthwise. Shake out the seeds. Lightly toast them in a small cast iron until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of cold water and let sit for 30 minutes, or until soft and pliable.
3. Toast the onions and garlic in the skillet until you see charred marks on all sides, and the onions have softened, about 10 minutes.
4. To a blender, add the tomatoes, onions, garlic, chiles (drained from water), and sriracha sauce. Puree until very smooth. Add a little water if needed.
5. Heat the vegetable oil in a large soup pot over medium high. Add the puree (it will probably splatter) to the pan and and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Add a cup of water, vinegar, sugar and a Tbs. of salt. Partially cover and simmer on a medium heat for 30 minutes.
6. After 30 minutes of simmering, add the chicken, oregano, hominy, chicken stock and another Tbs. salt. Stir to combine, and simmer on medium for another 30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
7. Ladle pozole into bowls and garnish with sliced radishes, dice avocado, and a good spritz of lime juice.

Here my friends are the glorious results...(note to self...take better pictures)