There’s no question – I love being in my kitchen. Sometimes I want to whip up a quick and easy pasta dish, other times, I want a food “project.” I want something that requires a few steps, maybe something that needs to simmer or cook for hours, or just a dish that requires my attention. I stumbled across this recipe on Chef Mary Sue Milliken’s Instagram profile and was like YES! I’m making that. I’ve made pozole before, but never a green pozole before. Her recipe included carnitas and I’ll eat just about anything if it includes carnitas. She also posted her recipe for Tomatillo Salsa which she adds to the pozole. I made her version of the salsa, only adding garlic and lime juice. My other tweaks : I added some spices to the pozole and another can of hominy because I wanted it more stew-like than soup-like. If you want to check out HER recipe – she posted it on her Instagram profile.
She didn’t include a recipe of carnitas, but luckily, I have one up my sleeve. Actually, my hubby does. He’s made this recipe several times, adapting it to our likes. It’s incredibly simple and cooks in the slow cooker for several hours. Chef Milliken added her carnitas in the pozole and let it simmer IN the soup. I added mine on top in the bowl because I wanted to keep the crispy texture you get from broiling the pork. The choice is yours.
I hope you have as much fun as I did making this super yummy, cozy dish. Oh! And I froze the leftovers for a rainy day.
Thanks to Chef Milliken for the delicious inspiration.
Green Pozole (Pozole with tomatillos)
3 T olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced (or 1 large yellow onion)
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 T ground cumin
½ T dried oregano
2 bay leaves
6 cups chicken stock
3 cans hominy, drained
Carnitas (recipe to follow)
Tomatillo salsa (recipe to follow)
Salt & fresh cracked black pepper
In a large, heavy pot heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute onion until soft and starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Add cumin and oregano, letting cook a bit in oil. Add garlic and saute for just 30 seconds. Add stock and let simmer for about 15 minutes before adding the hominy. At this point, you can add your cooked carnitas (or you can add them on top at the end). Let simmer another several minutes. Add 3 cups (or all) of the tomatillo salsa and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Season to taste.
Serve up soup with your choice of toppings : sliced avocado, cabbage, radishes, cilantro, sour cream, additional salsa, etc.
Chuck’s slow cooker Carnitas
5-6 lb pork shoulder (Boston Butt), cut into large chunks
3 bay leaves
8 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 2 limes
2 large navel oranges, juiced (save 2 halves for cooker)
1 large onion, quartered
2 T dried oregano
2 T salt
1 T pepper
2 T cumin
Put all seasonings in a bowl and mix. Put half the pork in a slow cooker in a single layer, sprinkle half the seasonings over it. Add second layer of pork along with the rest of the seasonings. Add lime and orange juices, discarding the lime and one orange, add the second juiced orange to slow cooker. You don’t want to add the juiced lime – it may make the liquid taste bitter. Add the bay leaves, onion and garlic. Set your slow cooker so the pork is tender and easy to shred within a few hours. In our slow cooker, it takes about 4-5 hours on high.
Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil and set oven to broil. Take out chunks of pork and shred on baking sheet, spreading it out in a single layer. Add ladles-full of the cooking liquid (about 2 cups total). Broil, without turning pork, until it starts to get dark brown and crispy.
Tomatillo Salsa
1 ½ pounds tomatillos, husked, washed and cut into quarters
2 large jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeds removed from one pepper (keep the other seeds for HEAT!), roughly chopped
¼ cup cold water
½ small white onion, cut in large chunks
1 medium garlic clove
1 bunch cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend.
