Vegetable Posole
This Mexican soup is great on a cold winter's night. Make your own salsa verde for this soup and many other recipes.
Ingredients
For the salsa verde:
- 2 large poblano peppers or 3 green New Mexican chili peppers
- 2 tablespoons corn oil or vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 6-7 medium tomatillos, paper husk removed and chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin (1/3 palmful)
- 1 teaspoon coriander (1/3 palmful)
- Salt and pepper
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tablespoon honey
For the posole:
- About 3 tablespoons corn oil or vegetable oil
- 1 pound mixed mushrooms, chopped or thinly sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin (half a palmful)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander (half a palmful)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Mexican oregano (half a palmful), lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon epazote (1/3 palmful), lightly crushed (optional)
- 1/2 bottle Mexican beer
- 2 cups homemade or store-bought salsa verde
- 2 cans hominy (14 ounces each can), drained
- 3 cups vegetable stock
- Cilantro leaves and thinly sliced scallions or chopped raw red onion, for garnish
Preparation
To make the salsa verde, char the peppers over an open flame or under a hot broiler. Place the fully charred peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap until cool. Peel, seed and reserve.
Heat the oil, about 2 tablespoons, in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and stir for a few minutes. Add the tomatillos, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper and cook for 10 minutes more, until a sauce forms and thickens. Add the mixture to a food processor or blender with the lime juice and honey. Process until fairly smooth.
For the posole, heat the oil, about 3 tablespoons, in a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and brown well, 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, cumin, coriander, oregano, epazote, if using, and stir for a minute more. Deglaze with the beer. Add the salsa, hominy and stock, and simmer over low heat until ready to serve.
Serve in shallow bowls topped with the garnishes and charred tortillas on side.
