If I had regular access to hominy, pozole would be my all time favorite go-to dish to make for friends.
I´d invite everyone I know over for dinner (not all at once - there'd be groups of 3, 4 or 6, just so I could make it as often as possible) and when I had exhausted my entire circle of friends, and had moved on to my cirlce of co-workers and vague aquintances, I'd go out into the street and pick random strangers to sit at my table.
It's not just that pozole is utterly delicious, satisfying and comforting and full of exciting flavors - I also think that it´s one of the best possible dishes to make for company. It can (and in fact, should) be made in advance, leaving no other work for you than to slice and chop the toppings just before dinner. This either gives you time to make an elaborate first course and dessert, or, if you keep those two simple as well, you can spend the day frolicking about instead of cooking. And when you put everything on the table, there is no way your guests will think that you´ve made it easy on yourself. There´s something really festive and complex about the big pot of pozole surrounded by all the little bowls of cabbage, radish, avocado, spring onions and lime wedges and cilantro. Guests help themselves and help themselves to some more. It's relaxed, it's unassuming, it's fun, and most importantly, it's utterly delicious.
Yesterday I made Pozole de Pato, pozole with duck (using both fresh duck and duck confit) for friends. I had the foresight to hold back some cooked hominy, 1 duck leg and some stock so I could make another batch today just for the 2 of us (and don't feel bad for our guests - there was plenty, we all had seconds and thirds and even fourths, and then one of our guests held the pot upside down over his plate to get to the last scraps of duck and the last kernel of corn. Which is what Dennis did today, to get to very last bits).
Now my hominy is all gone.
So I can only dream of making this for all my friends.
Hominy: the stuff my dreams are made of. Who says I'm weird?
7 comments:
Very glad to see that we continue to agree on things...what kind of chiles did you use? And where'd you get your confit?
New Mexican, anchos and a bit of chipotle.. the confit came from Alain Bernard, the French butcher at the Albert Cuyp.
oh and at the end I thickend the broth with a bit of masa.. I really liked that, mostly texture-wise.
You're also totally right about this being pretty low-effort and perfect for guests...we do need some more posole.
Was the duck version better than your last one? I think it's the best one I've made yet.
That should read: "the duck version is the best one I've made yet."
the duck version was even better than the chicken one.. now I´d like to try it with something gamy, venison or hare maybe??
i know you are away for some personal time, but i would love to get your recipe for duck pozole ... pleeease? :)
chic_e_geeky@yahoo.com
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