282375 Wed Jan 11 16:11:30 -0800 2006 15 31 Home Cooking 0 1504640 I remember five years ago when I called my mom and told her I just purchased a tortilla press. She proclaimed happily, “Ah! Now you have a Mexican Kitchen”. And I beamed. But last year, you wouldn’t have known it. I was obsessed by learning how to bake and while I did try a lot of new dinner recipes, most were about keeping it simple and familiar. So as I ended the year, pretty satisfied on my progress as a baker, I put my focus back to where I feel most comfortable, on the TOP portion of the stove. And in order to still make it a challenge, I decided to restore the honor of my Mexican Kitchen by learning more about Mexican Regional Cuisine. And I decided to start off with one my absolute favorite dishes, Jalisco-Style Red Pozole by Patricia Quintana Patricia Quintana is Mexico’s answer to Wolfgang Puck. She’s a super star chef in Mexico because of her famous Mexican City Restaurants and her traditional, yet unconventional recipes (Which has elicited a few words from purists like Diana Kennedy). I respect her completely and was very much looking forward to trying this recipe of hers despite some ‘concerns’… First, the broth seemed entirely pork based (2lbs Butt, 1lbs Neck) with only 2 chicken wings to help balance out the flavor. My mother makes her Pozole with a lot more Chicken because she claims pork broth is MUCH too strong for a proper soup… Second, I was nervous about the Chile Sauce to flavor the broth. The recipe to me seemed to be HORRIBLY spicy and not all that complex. Truth be told, my family’s ‘secret’ pozole ingredient is Las Palmas Enchilada sauce, which is VERY flavorful. Nevertheless, I was looking to learn, so I drug out my big 7 qt Le Cruset Dutch Oven and began the recipe. First ingredient… 8 quarts water… Uh… The Le Cruset is my BIGGEST pot, and I actually lamented a bit getting one so BIG. *Sigh* So, my fears of an ultra porky stinky broth were in full force. Nevertheless, I I went ahead and filled the pot up to almost the brim, leaving just enough space to put in the meats and seasonings without it bubbling over. Luckily I had to leave it boiling uncovered to reduce… And if the broth came out a little strong, all I’d have to do is add water right? Then I worked on my Red Sauce. Made it pretty much to the letter and as I strained the sauce, it gave me QUITE a bit of it. As I predicted, it was POTENT, but a bit bland. 2 Hours had passed and my broth had reduced nicely. I let it cool a bit, strained the broth, wiped clean my Le Cruset (I really LOVE this thing!) and shredded up the meats. I was SO Happy to see how my pork chunks had become SO tender. After skimming the broth a bit, I went in for a taste… YUM!!!!! It wasn’t too porky at all; instead it had a nice clean taste. I added a bit more salt to help perk it up and then dumped in the shredded meats and poured in a little bit of the red sauce, stirred and tasted. I poured in a little more and tasted again. This is important because the sauce was SO spicy it would totally over power the delicate broth. So in the end I only used about a little more than half of the sauce! But at this point you want the soup to be on the spicy side. With the hominy and then the condiments you will add to the soup when served, the spice will be tamed… The final step, I added TWO 28oz Cans of Hominy. This recipe only calls for one…but Pozole MEANS hominy! And I love it!! Two cans were just barely enough…. I wished I had a third… I resisted pouring myself a big bowl right then and there. Instead I covered up my big pot and put it to bed in the fridge (Pozole tastes better the next day!) And so, the following day, I rushed home after school to have my Pozole! I opened the pot and saw a thing of pure beauty. The broth was almost like jelly. I put the entire thing to reheat and began chopping up my condiments (Thin sliced Cabbage, Radish Slices, Chopped Onion and Cilantro and Quartered Lemon) and served myself a large bowl… and YUM!! Excellent, excellent Pozole! J In the future, if I make this recipe again, I would add more meat (Like a couple of chopped up Chicken Breasts) just to hardy up the soup. I also might roast the Onion and Garlic before tossing them into the broth, the same with toasting the dried chilies for the sauce. But overall, the recipe was much easier to handle than I thought and a success!! I was so glad I choose this recipe to be the first out of my reclaimed Mexican Kitchen and now I’m off to dive head first into Rick Bayless’s ‘mother salsas’ from his Salsa’s the Cookbook :) --Dommy! Link: http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/17/100430.shtml Wed Jan 11 16:11:30 -0800 2006 0 Dommy! 1 1504652 Quintana's The Taste of Mexico is worth looking for in used book stores (I think it is OOP). The original recipe that the paper modified uses 2.25lbs pigs head + 2 pork soup bones +2.25lbs pork loin +1 2.25 lb chicken for the broth. Her chile paste is actualy quite different and calls for 6 ancho and 6 guajillos and this is an optional step for a red pozole modification of her Jalisco Pozole. I also don't like to make it too spicy so that I can add lots of roasted chile de arbol as I eat it! Have you tried starting with dried corn? I did this for th efirst time and thought it was a nice step up in flavor and texture though a bit of work. I think the next time I may try to acquire some of Rancho Gordo's heirloom corn which I think allreasy has the husks removed. Link: http://www.ranchogordo.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=RG&Category_Code=DCP1 Wed Jan 11 16:54:23 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Nathan P. 2 1504665 I had the pleasure of meeting Patricia Quintana on a recent trip to Mexico. A word of caution about Taste of Mexico. The editing done on the book wasn't as accurate as it should have been. Some of the recipes don't work. The recipes in her subsequent books were more carefully edited and don't have the same problems. Wed Jan 11 17:48:30 -0800 2006 1504652 0 Gayla 3 1504666 Thanks so much both of you! I plan on working through Rick's Book and then going through Diana's Kennedy's new complete collection. I would LOVE to get one of Patricia's books, which one do you recommend? --Dommy! Wed Jan 11 17:55:00 -0800 2006 1504665 0 Dommy! 3 1504668 I very rarely follow an actual recipe so this has not caused me problems. I also have books from Kennedy and Bayless and I tend to triangulate things I cook. Doesn't Quintana have a number of books w/o english translations? Wed Jan 11 18:19:57 -0800 2006 1504665 0 Nathan P. 1 1504675 Thanks for this review Dommy - our new New Year's Day tradition is pozole. A friend made us a batch this year, but I'm going to try to yours soon - it sounds delicious! Wed Jan 11 18:54:31 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Rubee 1 1504682 Thanks for your report, Dommy! I plan on making some pozole soon w/ my pig's foot in the freezer that I resolved to use soon. Will compare your recipe to others out there so I can piece together my own. I've never eaten pozole before, so I can't wait! Wed Jan 11 20:02:12 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Carb Lover 1 1504698 I LOVE the Las Palmas enchilada sauce as a secret ingredient...when my sisters moved back east, we were forever packing cases of the stuff to take them because back then they could not get it. Wed Jan 11 22:44:00 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Snackish 2 1504752 LOL!! My mother would probably do the same exact thing... Actually, when I was searching for a job in other cities, a HUGE concern for me was having a Mexican Supermarket in the area. Luckily, I discovered this website and figured that they pretty much would carry all that I needed! :) Your sister can regularly load up to her hearts content! :) http://www.mexgrocer.com/1293.html --Dommy! Thu Jan 12 12:19:18 -0800 2006 1504698 0 Dommy! 1 1504712 Thanks, Dommy for your post. I just had a birthday and friends insisted on a party. My darling friend "chincha" made Pozole from her mothers recipe, what ever that is, and of course it was delish! We had all the things you usually add; shredded cabbage, onion, cilantro, etc.,etc., etc., .... Of course a little beer or wine. Some tortias (sp) Wonderful to hear you are finding/researching your cooking root's. The bad news is my cooking roots are Welsh based. I mean how many Welsh Rabbits can a fellow eat and still smile? They arn't even rabbits!! Thanks again. -Robert Thu Jan 12 02:03:42 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Robert 1 1504717 It really saddens me that I do not know where I come from. Where does the name Murray come from? A little English, Irish, and Am. Indian in me I believe. Any way since I cannot really pin down my roots I am adopting yours. I am hugely enthusiastic about Mexican cooking. In fact it is about all my husband and I have eaten for a year. I bought some beautiful dried posole I was saving for posole:). When I opened them they were infested with bugs. I was so sad. Anyway I've got to make some, yours sounds great. -Becca Thu Jan 12 08:16:56 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Becca Porter 2 1504751 BF is a Murray by the way of Ireland... and he LOVES Pozole, so feel free to make the connection between yourself as well... LOL! :) Best of luck making yours! :) --Dommy! Thu Jan 12 12:16:35 -0800 2006 1504717 0 Dommy! 1 1504724 Great post Dommy and what timing. For lunch today popped into a little place I had a vague rec for sometime in the past thinking I'd just get a few tacos and watched this bowl of brick-red soup go by while waiting in line to order. Finally, after a two year search, found not only a place that makes it, but makes an excellent version. I'll have to ask next time if it is from Jalisco. I'll post details on the CA board soon. BTW, if it's not too much bother, could you paraphrase the part of the recipe you used to make the broth? You've inspired me to give this a shot at home. TIA Thu Jan 12 10:09:05 -0800 2006 1504640 0 PolarBear 2 1504750 At the bottom of the post is the link to the actual recipe: http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/17/100430.shtml HTH! :) --Dommy! Thu Jan 12 12:13:41 -0800 2006 1504724 0 Dommy! 3 1504787 Thanks Dommy, what can I say, I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other. Thu Jan 12 19:13:32 -0800 2006 1504750 0 PolarBear 1 1504739 I look forward to your adventures--I'm already feeling inspired! Thu Jan 12 11:13:16 -0800 2006 1504640 0 Funwithfood