The Glory That Is Posole

Like a lot of you, I make Posole over the holidays. Last year I made mine for New Year’s Eve and as I was making it, I started laughing at the smells that come out of the kitchen. How can anything smell this wonderful? How can anything be this easy?

I soaked the pozole in water overnight and on the morning of the dinner, I added it to my slow cooker and covered it by about 3 inches of water and then went to work. When I came home, the whole house smelled of nixtamal and the individual kernels had popped open like wet popcorn. This isn’t an experience you get from a can of hominy, which has all the charm of bland chicken cartlidge.

I poached an entire chicken in water with some aromatics and after it was cooked, I let it cool. The broth was strained and I shredded the chicken meat back into the stockpot and when I was finished, I added the strained, cooked posole from the crockpot. I also added about 1/2 a cup of our New Mexican chili powder. Guests then could add garnishes like raw onion, oregano, cilantro, cubed avocado, chile powder, etc.

I’m now wondering if I can’t figure out a clever one pot, all slow cooker version. Have you had any luck or does it taste murky?

Our prepared hominy/pozole is here.