Day Thirty: Pozolé

This Mexican pork stew dates all the way back to the Aztecs. It was and still is made with whole kernel hominy and served for special occasions. It can be made red with ancho or guajillo chili or green with tomatillo salsa verde. 

Ingredients

2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup salsa verde
2 pound pork stew meat
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles
2 (15 ounce) cans hominy

Garnishes

medium thin-sliced radishes
chopped avocado
plucked fresh cilantro
lime wedges

Prep

Sauté the pork chunks, in a large pot or Dutch oven, turning or stirring to brown all sides. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, and chicken broth and stir. Add the salsa verde and the liquid from the hominy. Bring to boil (stir every minute or so), lowering heat to simmer for 40 minutes. Add the Hominy and continue simmering another 20 minutes. Add water or more chicken broth if necessary to maintain soupy stew consistency. Don't overcook or allow to mush-up. Served garnished with your favorite toppings.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

I usually have jalapeños on hand because I love spice and I put them in a lot of things. I had a lot of extras and wanted to make something different. I found this recipe on Pinterest and gave it a try. I made it without the bacon because I didn't have any. Because I'm cooking for one I halved the recipe and still ate it for four days. I kept the same amount of jalapeños but they were on the small side, too small for stuffing. Next time I'll probably keep some seeds because it wasn't hot at all but still very tasty.

Ingredients

6-8 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crispy
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, soft
1 cup of mayonnaise
4-6 jalapeno's, chopped and deseeded. The seeds will make it fiery hot.
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup diced green onion

Topping:

1 cup of crushed crackers (I used Club crackers)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine all of the ingredients into a medium bowl. Stir well.

3. Transfer to an oven proof dish. The size of the dish depends on how thick the dip is. The thicker the dip the longer it may need to warm up. I used a glass pie pan. My dip was a little less than an inch thick.

4. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle all over the top of the dip.

5. Bake the dip for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Snacking