The recent cold weather here in Texas makes me crave hot soup and one of the most flavorful, authentic Mexican soups out there is Pozole.  This is a Spanish soup that has a staple that we use in so many things, corn and in this case, hominy.  And by simply removing the meat in it, you could have a wonderful vegetarian dish.

The smell of this Pozole Soup is amazing and will have your neighbors knockin’ at your door asking for a taste!  5 star rating from everyone! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 lbs of pork shoulder or meat for carnitas (carnitas means small meat)
• 1 whole head of garlic (cut the tip off the point end of garlic)
• 1 large or 2 medium onions
• 1 approx 108 oz can of hominy ( rinsed very well)
• 4 dried chili cascabel (guajillo) peppers (deseed) (approx ¾ oz)
• ½ tsp. Cumin
• 1 small bay leaf
• Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Put the chili peppers in a saucepan with water and gently boil until soft. Put the meat, garlic and onion in a LARGE stockpot and fill about 2/3 full with water. Boil 1 to 2 hours…or until the meat is very tender. Remove the meat and let cool a little so you can pick through for fat and remove anything unwanted. (I’m very picky) Discard the bay leaf. Scoop out the onion and garlic and place in a blender. Drain the peppers and add them to the onion and garlic. Be sure to squeeze the garlic out of its’ skin. Add about 1 cup of stock and blend very well. (Add more if necessary because you might need to strain it if the blender doesn’t chop up the skin of the pepper finely enough) You don’t have to but I strained my stock. Add the cumin along with the pepper onion mixture, the rinsed hominy and the meat back in. Let it simmer for ½ hour to 1 hour. The longer the better.

Note: I would probably use leaner meat next time.  Fat adds flavor but I would still prefer less of it.

Carne Guisada is like a Mexican stew.  Guisada means “meat in gravy*.  Carne Asada is just meat (dry).  This recipe is my mother’s and since she reads my blog, I knew I better give her FULL credit:)  You can actually cook this in a crock pot for a few hours and it’s even more tender!!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Round steak
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cumino
• 1tsp. garlic powder
• 2 Tbs. flour
• 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno pepper
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped bell pepper
• 2 cups chopped potatoes
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 2 Tbs oil
• water to cover

PREPARATION:

1. Cut meat up in cubes and throw in pan with oil.

2. Dice up some potatoes while meat is browning.

3. After meat has been browned, add flour, salt, pepper, cumino, and garlic powder.

4. Add onion, bell pepper, potatoes, jalapeno, tomato sauce and enough water to cover.

5. Cover and Cook about 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve this with rice, beans, and tortillas!