Introducing another possible option-Corn Posole

SurviveNthrive · Oct 18, 2010

Does anyone use Corn Posole, reconstituted and then fried?

I found this information. Is it correct?

Pre-soaked dried posole only needs to be soaked and then simmered and then it's ready to eat. Unlike canned hominy, there is no rubberiness- just great corn flavor. Use in Mexican stews or any recipe calling for canned hominey. Or enjoy simply with butter, salt and pepper. Pleasantly addictive!

I'm thinking I might introduce this item to my long-term storage items and I'll be ordering a sample, but maybe someone knows a bit about this.

As I'm exploring new options to my long-term storage food, I'm finding variations of the same thing, such as different sorts of beans, new to me flour and grains, and such. What I'm doing is making sure I actually eat some of the stuff at least once a week and I'm looking for new items.

Emerald · Oct 19, 2010

While I haven't used it yet as I make my own, Pozole* that you buy is just corn that has been nixtamalized but dried whole instead being ground into masa dough or tamale dough. It is used in a special dish that I forget the name of right now, but it is a spicy pork stew with the dried pozole corn added to it. Very tasty especially if you add fire roasted chili's.

*The corn used for this is usually an older heirloom that has big white hard kernels, but I forget the name right off hand. I've just used hard white corn to make it and it tasted great.
If you have a local Mercado they have all kinds of corn for making masa with. from red to blue to white and yellow. It is fun to go and look and don't worry about the funny looks when you first go in, when they find out that you want to cook traditional foods from scratch most of the ladies they will bend over backward to help you pick the right stuff. The first time I went and told them that I want to make tamale dough for venison tamales they gave me all types of information on how to make the dough and steam them and tie the corn husks just right.. it was a great time.

SurviveNthrive · Oct 20, 2010

Thank you, that's encouraging. I'm always looking for new options.

It might be contingency rations, but who says it must be boring stuff!

Emerald · Oct 20, 2010

Another good thing about using corn that has been "slaked" or "nixtamalized" is it frees up many of the vitamins and minerals that are usually locked up.
The Spanish who took corn back to Spain and tried to just eat it as is, often developed Pellagra which is a very nasty disease that starts with the runs and ends with a painful death. Slave owners in the South tried to change over from rice to corn for their slaves as corn was cheaper and just feeding them cornmeal also caused many deaths due to pellagra.
The South American Indians found out many many years ago that by removing the outer pellical of the corn(aka hull) it freed up the niacin and other vitamins/minerals and made it a more complete food- and by mixing it with beans it made a complete protein. The freed up niacin (which is one of the B vitamins) made the Pellagra problem go away.
nixtamalized corn is what gives tortilla's and tortilla chips that certain flavor.

The reason I bring this up is due to the fact that many will probably try to survive on field corn that is all around us and if they don't treat it they will surely get pellagra- The native South Americans used wood ashes but I use pickling lime and it works the same. But I did study the wood ash way just in case.

weedygarden · Dec 18, 2013

Posole article and recipes

Today's Denver Post has an article about posole, its history, tradition and 2 recipes. There is another recipe that popped up relative to the recipe. Posole, aka pozole, like tamales, is a traditional holiday meal.

We have made it for decades, and know that the spices in it is important to some. Some people like spices, and they are shown to contain trace nutrients that we need.

http://www.denverpost.com/food/ci_24736547/posole-recipes-making-this-terrific-winter-warmer-at

Posole: Recipes for making this terrific winter warmer at home

By William Porter
The Denver Post

The recent spell of single-digit temperatures along the Front Range, brutal enough to numb body parts and leave you chipping rime ice off the dog, has sent many of us scurrying to the kitchen for something — anything — warm and welcoming.

For me, it's posole.

This classic hominy-based stew of Mexico and the American Southwest, also known as pozole, is one of the great homey dishes of the world. It boasts depths of flavors and a mix of inviting textures. Properly garnished, it can also be visually dazzling.

Posole is deeply rooted in Mexico, with a long pre-Columbian history and links to Aztec religious rituals. It is made from nixtamalized corn, a process in which the shucked kernels are cooked in an alkaline solution, often limewater, until they soften and puff.

You can start with dried posole, which must be soaked and cooked in a pressure cooker, or you can take a shortcut with canned hominy.

Some sort of meat-and-chile combo rounds out the dish's basics, but the garnishes and spicing range far and wide.

I was introduced to posole in another lifetime by a young woman who had grown up on a cattle ranch near Estancia, N.M. She could cook as well as she sang, and she sang like an angel.

The secret to her posole was toasted coriander seed, which added a unique note to a dish that can veer toward the bland unless you have a properly bold hand.

But posole recipes are made to be played with, with ingredients coming and going depending on one's mood. They are akin to chile dishes that way: highly individual, even idiosyncratic, reflecting the mood of the day and even the weather.

Writing about this dish feels appropriate at this time of year. I first encountered it when I was living in Arizona, where posole is a Christmas Eve tradition for many.

Dig in, and happy holidays.

Posole

Pork Posole with Green Chiles

This is a classic New Mexican posole, with a nice balance of hominy, pork and green chiles. By William Porter. Serves 8-10.

Ingredients

2½ pounds pork butt

5 quarts water

1 head garlic, halved, plus 4 additional cloves peeled

5 bay leaves

2 white onions, peeled and quartered

1 medium-sized (29-ounce) can posole or white hominy

2 tablespoons Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 teaspoon cumin

1 pound roasted green chiles (preferably Hatch), diced

Cilantro, 8 sprigs

Salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot, put the pork, water, garlic, bay leaves and onions. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for about2 hours until the pork grows tender and falls apart. During this time, skim any impurities from the surface of the water. Remove the pork and let cool. Shred or dice into ½ -inch cubes.

Remove the bay leaves and set aside the garlic and onions. Add more water to the pot if needed. In a colander, drain and rinse hominy. Add it to the pot along with the oregano and coriander seed. Put the onions, garlic, cumin, green chiles and cilantro in a blender. Purée with some of the pork broth.

Return purée to the hominy pot along with the shredded pork. Season to taste with salt and pepper for another 15 minutes. Garnish as you wish and serve.

Vegetarian Posole with Red Chile

This recipe comes courtesy of two people, one no longer with us, the other very much alive. The late Clayton Oden developed this recipe for the Corn Dance Cafe in Santa Fe, which he ran with his mother, Loretta Barrett Oden. The latter shared it with my longtime friend Judy Walker, who is the food editor at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the newspaper where the recipe first ran. Serves 10-12.

Ingredients

12 dried long red New Mexico chiles

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

½ head of garlic, peeled, chopped

Large pinch of Mexican oregano

½ large onion, chopped

1 30-ounce can white hominy, drained and rinsed

Salt to taste

Garnishes (see list above)

Directions

Rinse chiles lightly if dusty. Break open the chiles and remove the seeds and veins. Dry roast on a griddle or in a skillet, pressing down with spatula until they sizzle and soften a bit.

Put the chiles in a medium-sized pot. Cover with fresh water and gently boil until chiles are soft. Let cool. In food processor or blender, mix the chiles and just enough water to form a paste. Strain.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Sweat the garlic, oregano, onion and salt until onions are translucent. Add the posole, cover with water and simmer 30 minutes. When the posole is softened, add it to the chile and cook on low for 15-20 minutes, until the mixture reaches a hard simmer.

To serve, ladle the posole into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.

Posole garnishes

A bowl of posole can be garnished any number of ways. Among the traditional toppings:

Sliced radishes

Lime wedges

Shredded green cabbage

Fresh cilantro

Diced scallions

Toasted corn tortilla strips
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weedygarden · Dec 18, 2013

Another article and more posole recipes

When I made the previous post, I had someone show up mid way and then they were waiting for me. I sure made a mess of it and think I have cleaned it up now.

In searching for the original article, I found another one that tells more about posole. I have never cooked the dried posole, only frozen and canned. I have begun buying the packages of the dried posole here and there so I will make it one day soon.

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14265646?IADID=Search-www.denverpost.com-www.denverpost.com

Ancient stew, modern style: Making posole your own

In pursuit of posole
By Kristen Browning-Blas
The Denver Post
Posted: 01/27/2010

Posole seems to be one of those dishes that requires special ingredients — pig's feet, a certain dried chile, the advice of an abuelita — to achieve authentic flavor.

But if you don't happen to have hog parts, guajillo peppers or a Mexican grandma, you can still make an authentic posole. Turns out posole — the hominy-based stew — is one of those folkloric dishes that follows very few rules and takes on the character of the cook.

"I make it with pork. Or beef. Or chicken. If you have bacon, you can add bacon, whatever you want," says Maria Salas, whose 30 grandkids qualify her as an abuela de verdad (a real grandmother).

Now retired, Salas taught Mexican cooking classes at the Northside Aztlan Center in Fort Collins, and enjoys chatting about recipes with her physical therapist, Krista Rudolph, and other patients at the Orthopedic Center of the Rockies.

It's one of those dishes that gets cooks talking, comparing notes on spices and cooking methods. Rudolph lived in Roswell, N.M., for six years, where she learned to make a practical version of the stew, using canned posole, enchilada sauce and chicken stock in the crockpot.

Salas thinks that's just fine. But the dried posole does have more flavor, she says. "It's more work, just like with beans." Planning, overnight soaking and a pressure cooker make it do-able.

Sticklers for authenticity like Diana Kennedy ("The Cuisines of Mexico") and Rick Bayless ("Mexico: One Plate at a Time") will guide you through posole's rather complicated process and ingredient list.

One of Kennedy's recipes begins: "Two days ahead, put one pound whole corn kernels into an earthenware pot and cover it with water . . ."

If she didn't lose you at "two days ahead," and you make it through to " 1/2 pig's head," you will be halfway to the type of posole served in Jalisco, where they top it with minced onion, sliced radishes and shredded lettuce.

Mexican cooking expert Bayless calls it "rib-sticking fiesta food . . . the succulent pork and the meaty kernels of hominy cooked from dried corn, prodded awake by pungent Mexican oregano, crunchy raw radish and cabbage and piercing lime and red chile."

It's that combination of textures that makes posole — essentially a humble stew — so interesting to cook and to savor.

We tested canned hominy and dried-soaked-cooked posole. Simmered vs. pressure-cooked. Packets from Los Chileros against bulk posole from a Mexican market.

While Salas gives her blessing to use canned, we agreed with her that the dried posole is more flavorful. It's a 24-hour process that starts with soaking the posole overnight, then cooking it for two to three hours on the stove, or about an hour and a half in a pressure cooker.

Results: The bulk posole tasted the "corniest," with an earthy sweetness. The pressure cooker makes everything more tender.

Using canned posole allows you to skip all that and get straight to the fun of deciding how to flavor the puffed kernels. The least complicated way is to serve the prepared posole with a sauce ladled over it.

Or just cook it with a little chile powder and whatever meat you have on hand, says Salas. "If you don't like onions, don't use them, or use powder. You like garlic, put garlic in it."

She seasons her posole with chile rojo, cumin and oregano.

"Then, you can eat it with galletas — crackers — or tortillas," she says.

According to this abuelita, you can't go wrong, no matter how you make it.

Kristen Browning-Blas: 303-954-1440 or [email protected].

Know your corn

POSOLE Stew made with dried hominy (corn). The Spanish word comes from the Aztec language Nahuatl, "pozolli," or "foamy," from the cooked corn's bubbly appearance. "Posole" is often used to refer to the dried corn itself.

NIXTAMAL Another Nahuatl-Spanish word, from the process used to treat the dried corn with an alkaline solution that makes it more digestible and nutritious. Dried again, nixtamal is usually labelled "posole" or "maiz para posole." Ground into a wet paste, it is called masa for tamales or corn tortillas.

HOMINY Dried corn treated with an alkaline solution to make it more digestible and nutritious. Usually sold in cans.

MAIZ PARA POSOLE "Corn for posole."

CHICOS Small dried corn kernels.

Kristen Browning-Blas

Explore more on posole

"Simply Simpatico, A Taste of Mexico from the Junior League of Albuquerque"

"The Cuisines of Mexico," by Diana Kennedy

"From My Mexican Kitchen," by Diana Kennedy

"Mexico One Plate at a Time," by Rick Bayless

"Body, Mind & Spirit: Native Cooking of the Americas," by Beverly Cox and Martin Jacobs

Posole

Grocery stores carry Los Chileros brand white corn posole in 12-ounce bags for $2.69. Mexican markets often carry dried maiz para posole in bulk, around $5 for 3 pounds.

Ingredients
2 cups dried posole
6 cups water
1 tablespoon salt

Directions
In a large glass bowl, cover posole with water and soak overnight. Drain and rinse.

Place posole in a large Dutch oven or pressure cooker. Add at least 6 cups water, and salt. Bring to a boil. If using a Dutch oven, simmer 3 hours. For a pressure cooker, seal, pressurize, and cook 1 hour. De-pressurize pot, check posole. If it's still hard, return to a boil, reseal and cook another half-hour.

Drain and rinse. The kernels won't necessarily open up like popcorn, but the posole is now ready to add to stews or to serve with a sauce, or to freeze for later use. Keeps three days, refrigerated, or about three months frozen.

Red Posole With Pork

If you use canned posole, this recipe works fine in a large Dutch oven on the stove. If you are using dried, soaked posole, a pressure cooker will help tenderize the kernels. For vegetarians: Substitute chopped mushrooms for pork, use vegetable stock in place of chicken. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil, vegetable oil or bacon fat
1 large onion, chopped
1 Fresno (or other red) chile pepper
1 pound cubed pork
1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons toasted ground cumin
1/4 cup dried, ground chile rojo, mild, medium or hot (not chili powder)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup beer
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken stock
About 2 cups dried posole, rinsed, soaked overnight and pre-cooked, or 1 29-ounce can Mexican-style hominy

GARNISHES
Chopped cilantro
Sliced radishes
Shredded cabbage
Shredded cotija (or other hard) cheese
Sour cream

Directions
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil to medium high. Add onion and chile pepper, saute until onions are golden. Add pork, paprika, oregano, cumin and ground chile, salt and pepper, cook until pork is browned. Add garlic, cook a minute more, then add flour. Cook, stirring, until flour has turned golden. Pour in beer, simmer a couple of minutes, scraping any brown bits from bottom of pan. Add tomatoes, chicken stock and posole.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer at least one hour (up to four).

If using a pressure cooker, bring to a boil, seal and cook about 1 hour. The pork will be very tender and easy to shred.

Serve with assorted garnishes.

Green Posole with Chicken

If you use canned posole, this recipe works fine in a large Dutch oven on the stove. If you are using dried, soaked posole, a pressure cooker will help tenderize the kernels. It's also good with beef or pork, or tofu or mushrooms. Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil,vegetable oil or bacon fat
1 large onion, chopped
1 jalapeño (or other green) chile pepper, chopped
1 pound chicken, cut into 2-inch strips
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon toasted ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 cups chopped roasted, seeded green chiles (about 6-8, or as many as you like)
3 tablespoons flour
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
Juice of 1/2 lime
About 2 cups dried posole, rinsed, soaked overnight and precooked, or 1 29-ounce can Mexican-style hominy

GARNISHES
Chopped cilantro
Sliced radishes
Shredded cabbage
Shredded Cotija (or other hard) cheese
Sour cream
Lime wedges

Directions
In a large Dutch oven, heat oil to medium high. Add onion and jalapeño, saute until golden. Add chicken, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper, cook chicken through.

Remove chicken and shred using two forks to pull apart. Return to pot, add garlic and green chiles, cook a minute more, then add flour. Cook, stirring, until flour has turned golden. Add tomatoes with their liquid, chicken stock, lime juice and posole. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer at least one hour (up to four).

If using a pressure cooker, bring to a boil, seal and cook about 1 hour. Chicken will be very tender and shred-able.

Serve with assorted garnishes.
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Davarm · Dec 19, 2013

We make and eat Hominy quite often and I do dry it whole when we have any leftover. It's more convenient to have it dried and on hand than to have to make it fresh all the time.

One of the popular verities of corn that is used to make it is "Hickory King" but I use any kind I have(mostly ordinary feed corn) to make it. I have used "Blue Hopi" and "Painted Mountain" and they do quite well.

We often grind the dried hominy to use as "Grits" and to make cornbread from, both are pretty good.

We dont store that much of it pre made and dried but in many of my 5 gallon buckets of corn I have stored, I include a bag of lime so I will have it as needed when I open a bucket.

Ezmerelda · Dec 19, 2013

Davarm said: ↑

We dont store that much of it pre made and dried but in many of my 5 gallon buckets of corn I have stored, I include a bag of lime so I will have it as needed when I open a bucket.
Click to expand...

This is a VERY good idea! Now why didn't I think of that? :thankyou:

weedygarden · Dec 19, 2013

Davarm said: ↑

We dont store that much of it pre made and dried but in many of my 5 gallon buckets of corn I have stored, I include a bag of lime so I will have it as needed when I open a bucket.
Click to expand...

When I was reading about making it in another recent thread, realized that when you nixtamalize (sp?) your corn, it takes a lot of water and rinsing when you are in the de-husking step. I have dry canned some corn and can treat it, but I am starting to buy pre-treated corn so that I won't need lots more water when I want to make posole.

I am not a southerner and haven't eaten hominy plain, nor am I big on grits, but posole, yum, yum, yum! We used to have it at least once a month during the winter months when my daughter was at home. I used to buy the frozen hominy and right with it would be frozen green or red chili sauce. The one article I posted said that one person uses enchilada sauce. That is another easy thing to buy and store.

I see it as such a great way to add variety to preps. If you have ever tried to live off of your long term storage, you know that variety in your food will be very important. Many of us are storing meat, but I predict that is going to be one of the things that will be the most difficult to get and have.

I don't want to eat pinto beans and rice all day every day forever. I want some variety, and now is the time to plan, prepare, and store. In spite of anyone's best planning, we will all want or need something that will be difficult to acquire.

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Introducing another possible option-Corn Posole

SurviveNthrive a dude

Emerald Well-Known Member

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