Cole's Pozole

Cole says: The only thing that I really did that was different from this recipe was boil my own corn. Pozole is way better when you take the time to prepare your own corn instead of the store bought hominy. To do this take a pound of dried corn kernels if you can find them at your grocery store (or you can dry your own corn from scratch but that takes some real time) and you soak the dried corn over night in cold water in the refrigerator. On the cooking day you boil the corn for 1 hour or as long as desired adding powdered lime to the water. The corn kernels are supposed to flower but mine just expanded to really bloated corn kernels. At any rate they were soft and delicious and a fantastic addition. Caution: this recipe is very spicy, especially the first day, so subtract a few chiles from your sauce if you would like a slightly milder version. I like to add in sour cream and tortillas to dampen the heat myself but I know not everyone shares my enthusiasm from consuming fire.

* 1 large head garlic
* 12 cups water
* 4 cups chicken broth
* 4 pounds country-style pork ribs
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano (preferably Mexican), crumbled
* 2 ounces dried New Mexico red chiles
* 1 1/2 cups boiling-hot water
* 1/4 large white onion
* 3 teaspoons salt
* two 30-ounce cans white hominy (preferably Bush's Best)
* 8 corn tortillas
* about 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil


Accompaniments:

* diced avocado
* thinly sliced iceberg or romaine lettuce
* chopped white onion
* diced radishes
* lime wedges
* dried oregano
* dried hot red pepper flakes

Peel garlic cloves and reserve 2 for chile sauce. Slice remaining garlic. In a 7- to 8-quart heavy kettle bring water and broth just to a boil with sliced garlic and pork. Skim surface and add oregano. Gently simmer pork, uncovered, until tender, about 1 1/2 hours.

While pork is simmering, wearing protective gloves, discard stems from chiles and in a bowl combine chiles with boiling-hot water. Soak chiles, turning them occasionally, 30 minutes. Cut onion into large pieces and in a blender purée with chiles and soaking liquid, reserved garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt until smooth.

Transfer pork with tongs to a cutting board and reserve broth mixture. Shred pork, using 2 forks, and discard bones. Rinse and drain hominy. Return pork to broth mixture and add chile sauce, hominy, and remaining teaspoon salt. Simmer pozole 30 minutes and, if necessary, season with salt. Pozole may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered.

While pozole is simmering, stack tortillas and halve. Cut halves crosswise into thin strips. In a 9- to 10-inch skillet heat 1/2 inch oil until hot but not smoking and fry tortilla strips in 3 or 4 batches, stirring occasionally, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer tortilla strips with a slotted spoon as fried to brown paper or paper towels to drain. Transfer tortilla strips to a bowl. Tortilla strips may be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

Serve pozole with tortilla strips and bowls of accompaniments.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pork-and-Hominy-Stew-with-Red-Chiles-Pozole-Rojo-101285#ixzz1B9CtLr7O

Winter Warm-up Soup

If you put the wafers in the bowl with the soup and then a dash of sour cream its amazing. Oh, and save the olive oil that you roast the garlic in - you can use it in your other cooking and its very flavorful. The nice thing about this soup is that it stores well and you can pair it with a salad for lunch and its perfect. I recommend dressing it up with more spices - basil, rosemary, etc... Cole even likes a little red pepper.

Roasted-Tomato Soup with Parmesan Wafers
4 pounds tomatoes, halved lengthwise
6 garlic cloves, left unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream

Accompaniment: parmesan wafers

Garnish: oregano sprigs

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, in 1 layer in a large 4-sided sheet pan and add garlic to pan. Drizzle tomatoes with oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Roast tomatoes and garlic 1 hour, then cool in pan. Peel garlic cloves.
Cook onion, oregano, and sugar in butter in a 6-to 8-quart heavy pot over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, garlic, and stock and simmer, covered, 20 minutes.
Purée soup in batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids), then force through a sieve into cleaned pot, discarding solids. Stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste and simmer 2 minutes.
Divide soup among 8 bowls and float 1 wafer in center of each.