Accidental Pozole

In my last post, I mentioned having made what I called an 'accidental pozole'. Since I'm sure you've been consumed with curiosity as to what I may have meant by that, I'm here to meet you're needs. I'm selfless that way.

Pozole is a spicy soup of Mexican origin.  A web search shows that their are many different versions, but the versions I've seen have been made with pork and hominy. (Hominy is corn that has been soaked in an alkaline solution.)  The only pozole I've had was a canned version I ate a month or so ago.

I had thawed a some pork cushion meat, intending to mark green chile stew. I was too lazy to cut the pork up and brown it in batches, so I decided to braise my roast whole. I rubbed it with salt, pepper, and paprika and browned it, then added a quart of chicken stock and covered it to let it cook.

When my pork was cooked, I decided to make a soup with the cooking liquid. I started by adding a jar of Goya brand sofrito. (I specify the brand because sofrito seems to refer to so many different things. I do love this stuff, however.) I also added some diced potato, diced carrot, a can of hominy, a can of diced green chiles, some of the cooked pork, some masa harina (the cornmeal used in tamales), and probably some things I've forgotten. I had no particular plan in mind, I just wanted to take advantage of my cooking liquid.

Once the vegetables were cooked,  I had a pot ful of soup that reminded me sharply of the canned pozole I had had. It was rich, it was spicy, and the masa had added some wonderful thickness to the broth. (A thin soup never really seems quite like food to me.)

It was wonderful. Would someone that knew call it pozole? I don't know. But it made me happy.

Still Alive and Cooking

Early in the summer, I wrote here about my typical failure to do much cooking in the summer -- and fell into the same trap as usual. I did SOME cooking, and even a couple of semi-interesting things, like carrot-green chimichurri sauce and some accidental pozole. But, mostly I didn't cook.

I do see to be gearing up again, though. I hope to have my first try at home made pasta soon, inspired by my friend Karen. And my accidental pozole was yummy enough that I'd like to do it on purpose. I'm mulling other things as well, such as another showdown with my old nemesis cooked sugar. (Maybe I should make a show about doing that in a motor home and call it 'Breaking Brittle'. Or not.)

We'll see what comes out of my Beginner's Skillet.