Hearty Chicken Pozole Soup

This scintillating soup recipe was sent to us by George in NYC as an intriguing fall/winter soup to share with your loved one. A chicken-based soup broth with whole hominy, garnished with cilantro, lime juice, radishes, finely diced hot pepper, onion and diced avocado.

pozole .jpgWikipedia has this to share: Pozole is a ritually significant, traditional pre-Colombian soup or stew from Mexico. Variant spellings include pozsole, pozolé, pozolli, posole. Posole. It is made from nixtamalized cacahuazintle corn (soaked corn that is cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, and hulled), meat, usually pork, chicken, turkey, pork rinds; chili pepper, and other seasonings and garnish.

Pozole mis en place.jpg

Ingredients:

  • 6 chicken legs with thighs, with skin
  • olive oil
  • 2 whole cloves garlic
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 6 cups of water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2  29-oz can Mexican Style Hominy
  • 1 16-oz can green salsa tomatillo

Garnish Ingredients:

  • 1 fresh avocado, diced
  • 1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
  • 6 – 8 radishes, sliced in rounds
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 serrano pepper, finely diced
  • lime, cut in slices

Directions:

  1. Wash chicken with white vinegar and a dash of salt, rinse thoroughly
  2. In a soup pot or le creuset, over medium-high heat, saute olive oil, garlic, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper.
  3. Add 5-6 cups of water, adding enough water to cover chicken pieces.
  4. Add bay leaves, cover pot and cook for 45 minutes
  5. Skim the fat from the top
  6. Remove the chicken from the pot, when cool enough to handle, remove skin and shred chicken meat or cut into bite size pieces
  7. Add hominy (including liquid) and salsa tomatillo. Simmer over low heat for 1/2 hour.
  8. Just before you are ready to serve: Dice avocados, chop cilantro, slice radishes, lime sliced, dice onion and serrano pepper – place in individual small bowls.

Plate the dish:

  • Ladle soup into serving bowls and top with a tablespoon of each garnish. Enjoy!