Pozole Rojo

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Red Pozole, roots in New Mexico, is way popular in the southwest region. This savory, hearty soupy stew is great for a cold winter’s meal and it’s an established favorite for a Christmas or New Years celebration. But,this version of the recipe is intended as a stylish approach for that occasion where you prefer a formal dinner setting. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

Serves 5

1 five rib rack of pork loin tied and bones trimmed French style

1 25 oz can of Hominy (Mexican Style)

4 oz New Mexico dry red chile pods pureed

½ large onion chopped

1 cloves garlic (for chile puree)

2 tablespoons red vermouth

½ teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon Mexican oregano

1 bay leaf

Salt

Optional Roasted Vegetables

Carrots

Radishes

Yellow and Green Zucchini blanched in water

Red Chile Sauce Preparation

The depth of red color and the attributes of natural flavors are so magical in this simple sauce that you will want to eat it by the spoonful. For this recipe I choose New Mexico pods. Go to Red Chile Sauce for instructions on preparation, then return back to the remaining instructions for finishing the sauce. I recommend using prepared hominy. If you choose to use dry maize, see instructions below under notes.

Add the New Mexico red sauce, hominy (pozole), cumin, oregano, vermouth and bay leaf in a large sauce pan. Thin the sauce out with water and simmer at low temperature or about thirty minutes. Remove the bay left then taste for salt and oregano. Set aside and reheat prior to plating.

Rack of Pork Preparation

This technique is well documented on the “Serious Eats” food website. My results turned out excellent, just as advertised. Go this link for a complete explanation: http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/11/how-to-make-pork-loin-roast.html. The following instructions are mostly extracted from the website.

Preheat the oven to 250 °F and adjust the oven rack to the center position. Season the rack liberally with salt and pepper. Cooking a low temperature cooks the loin through the center without overcooking the outer layers of meat.

Place pork on a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Transfer to oven and roast until internal temperature reaches 140°F, about 2 hours. Remove from oven and tent with foil for at least 15 minutes and up to 45 minutes. After vegetables are finished roasting you will return the rack of pork to the oven to crisp the meat.

Increase oven temperature to 500°F. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and cook radishes and carrots until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain well. In a large bowl, toss carrots, radishes. with just enough olive oil to coat. Arrange in a single even layer on 2 rimmed baking sheets and/or a large baking dish or roasting pan and roast until vegetables are browned and tender, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove vegetables from the oven, tent the vegetables with aluminum foil, keep warm.

Return roast to oven and cook until crisp and browned on the exterior, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Drizzle the vegetables lightly with fresh olive oil, and toss with parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Carve roast by slicing between each rib. Plate each pork chop over a bed of pozole rojo and accompany with roasted vegetables.

Notes

If you choose to use dry maize ensure you include lime(cal) in the water for cooking the kernels. Cooking time takes several hours. If you want the kernels to open (flower), then you need to pick off those little tips. This is too time consuming and for these reasons I recommend the canned product. See photos under the ingredients list. Use 3 cups of dry maize.

Buen Provecho

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