Yesterday being Cinco de Mayo I made the usual magic in the kitchen — guacamole and Lazy Gringo Posole.
This is not exactly a forced march through The New York Times Cooking section. You th’ow the ingredients for the first into a bowl and mash ’em up, and you th’ow the ingredients for the second into a pot and simmer ’em up.
Shit, a Republican could do it, if someone kept an eye on him to make sure he didn’t stick his dingus into the grub or try to bomb it onto the table. You know how those guys cook.
Soups and stews were among the first dishes I learned how to cook, and when the sloth has got me with a downhill pull I will fall back on them at the drop of a chef’s toque and drop the fucker myself.
The posole takes two hours to cook and about no time at all to prep. I toss three cloves of garlic into a small food processor for a quick, coarse chop. Next I add four or five dried red chile pods, seeded, and a large yellow onion, chopped into chunks the processor can swallow. Zoom, another round of push-button chopping. Toss the results into a 6-quart pot.
Drain and rinse a 25-ounce can of white hominy and add that to the pot. You can do the whole dried-hominy thing if you like, but I told you I was lazy. Add a pound and a half of pork or boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch bits, two teaspoons of Mexican oregano and one of ground cumin, salt to taste, and 6-7 cups of water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and go watch the hummingbirds for a couple of hours, returning to the pot now and then to give ’er a stir.
The guac’ is even easier. To a bowl add one large avocado, a light drizzle of fresh lime juice, a couple-three teaspoons of finely chopped tomato (optional), a smidge of minced white onion if you like it (Herself does not), and salt to taste. Mash with fork, leaving it a little chunky just ’cause. Serve with corn chips.
You want some nice warm flour tortillas for the posole, along with some class of crunchy garnishes — minced jalapeños, chopped radishes, green onions — and a scattering of cilantro. Watch the BBC’s “Lord of the Flies” on Netflix as you dine and be glad you’re not a castaway kid trying to get that pig in the pot you don’t have.
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Simmer the avocados, mash the hominy … got it!
Make sure you take the hominy out of the can before mashing.
Sledgeomatic!
When I was a wee lad I actually cried when being forced to finish a helping of canned hominy. And was told the story way too many times by my sisters. See, I hated that stuff so much I tried filling my pockets with the cursed corn so my plate would show clean. Even the reliable collie dog at my feet wouldn’t eat it thereby sealing my fate.
Even so, I might be willing to try POG’s recipe since it brings so many other flavors to the party.
Once the hominy is overwhelmed by red chile, jalapeño, onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, water, and a couple pounds of pork or chicken, I can deal with it.
What I don’t like is grits. The old man, being a creature of the Louisiana-Florida swamps, he loved him some grits. Herself loves ’em too. I suppose I would eat them if nothing else were available, but happily something always is.
Posole is heaven sent with hatch chiles and pork cubes seasoned with cumin and adobo chiles and maybe a Dos Equis or modelo. Grits not so much but old fashioned polenta with a spicy marinara and crusty brewad oh YEAH. Or just some butter stirred in and baked at 225 degrees. a bit of chianti. Yeah I like peasant food being a peasant myself. One day will be some of then flour from Cortez and some lard a try my hand at tortillas.
You ever get into menudo? That was a bridge too far for me, even as a hangover cure. A combo platter smothered in green and a few red beers usually got me back on track for whatever.
My favorite hangover cure was the hottest green chile and fresh, thick tortilla with OJ. Menudo worked once when I had too too many shots of mezcal then my body purged every in the stomach contents. no mas no mas. I was cured of mezcal and menudo.
Menudo. Humberto, Fred, brought a 5 gallon pot of Menudo into work about 30 years ago for the team the Monday after New Year day weekend. Never having it before, I had a bowl. Haven’t had any since.
Hint, heh?
Happy Mother’s Day, all!