Hefty bowls of posole are popular at the restaurant all year, but never more so than at Christmas, when the dish is almost always requested “red” and combined with piquant chile colorado.

  • 2 pounds lean pork loin, cut into
  • bite-size pieces
  • 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon ground oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Chile Colorado Sauce (see recipe below)
  • 3 16-ounce cans hominy, drained
  • 1 tablespoon dried whole-leaf oregano
  • 2 quarts water
  • Optional garnishes: chopped onion, dried whole-leaf oregano, lime wedges

CHILE COLORADO SAUCE

  • 12 to 18 mild to medium dried red chile pods
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • Salt
  • 1 cup warm water, optional

Serves 6 to 8

  1. In a small stock pot or Dutch oven, combine pork and lard. Cook over medium heat until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
  2. Strain off and discard all but about 2 tablespoons of fat. Add ground oregano, cumin, garlic powder, and salt, and stir well.
  3. Add the sauce to the pork and continue to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.
  4. In another stock pot or Dutch oven, combine hominy with the whole-leaf oregano and water, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Pour chile-and-pork mixture into the hominy, stir well, and continue cooking for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. The posole should be a bit soupy. Add a little more water, if needed.
  5. Ladle posole into bowls and top with onions, whole-leaf oregano, and lime wedges, or serve the garnishes on the side so that guests can customize their dish.

CHILE COLORADO SAUCE

  1. Rinse chile pods and discard stems and seeds. In a medium saucepan, add pods and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 10 minutes. Let the chile mixture cool briefly and then pour it into a blender. Add the garlic and puree the mixture. Pour mixture through a sieve into a bowl.
  2. In a deep frying pan, warm the lard over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir continually until the flour is light brown. Do not let the flour turn dark or burn. Remove from the heat and pour in the chile mixture, carefully to avoid splatters. Stir together, then add salt to taste. Simmer for about 5 minutes to blend flavors. If the sauce seems too thick, add warm water—it should be very spoonable. The chile can be made a day ahead.

This recipe originally appeared in "All in the Familia" by Cheryl Alters Jamison.