A New Way to Celebrate the New Year: Bev’s Posole

A New Way to Celebrate the New Year: Bev’s Posole

By Beverly Hicks Burch

Well, yesterday Tall & Handsome and I celebrated out 5^th wedding anniversary. One thing I’ve picked up over those five years is his love for some of his New Mexican foods…green chilies in particular.

When he first came to Alabama, he brought a southwestern, or at least New Mexican holiday tradition with him…that was serving Posole during the holidays. Posole is a type of soup/stew made with pork, hominy and green chilies.

I’m planning on serving this tomorrow to start the New Year out with a tasty, spicy kick…nothing like trying a new tradition!

Bev’s Posole

Pork, Green Chili and Hominy Stew

For the Pork:

1½ – 2 pounds lean pork loin, trim any fat away

Juice of 3 limes

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

The day before, cube pork and add juice of limes, oregano, and onion and garlic powder. Mix well and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion

2-3 cloves minced garlic

½ teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon ground cloves

Cayenne pepper (optional) can use up to ½ teaspoon. I add a couple of dashes… more will make it hotter! (Because of my Sjogren’s I make ours mild)

4 cups chicken broth (I use Swanson’s canned or boxed)

2 4 oz. cans chopped green chilies

1 large and 1 small can white hominy (Posole), drained and rinsed

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

In large pot, heat oil until hot. Sauté onion until it begins to brown. Add minced garlic, black pepper, cumin, cloves and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook for 1 minute allowing spices to ripen and toast. Next add chicken broth, pork with the marinade, the hominy, additional spices and the green chilies. Adjust heat to simmer. Cover and cook until pork is cooked and tender.

Serve with warm tortillas* and red enchilada sauce drizzled over a bowl of hot Posole before serving.

*Reggie is usually in charge of heating the tortillas. He does it between layers of paper towels in the microwave and then takes them out and butters them with Land of Lakes “butter” that is 60% canola oil. Yum-yum

Enjoy!!

© 2008 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Burch Brined & Brilled Turkey, by Beverly Hicks Burch

Burch Brined & Grilled Turkey

By Beverly Hicks Burch

I realize this may be a little late for this year’s holidays but you can print it out and keep it on hand for next year. This turkey makes one of the best I’ve ever had. Tall & Handsome and I have made it several times and have fine tuned a recipe that’s all our own from the ones we have tried.

The turkey is soaked over night in a brine…this makes a very moist bird! Then the next day he cooks it on his Weber gas grill. Yes, I said he grills the turkey. One big advantage…that clears the oven up for other cooking!

For the brine:

1 gallon hot water

1 gallon vegetable stock (I use Swanson)

1 cup kosher salt

10 whole allspice, crushed

¼ cup peeled and coarsely chopped fresh ginger

4 crushed cloves of garlic

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 7 lb. bag ice

1 pound honey

½ cup light brown sugar

Combine hot water and salt in a large cooler. We use one of the large ones on wheels (at least 54 qts.). Stir until salt is dissolved. Add other ingredients, adding ice last.

Next add the turkey (remove parts from inside), breast side up. The brine will accommodate a 15 – 20 pound turkey. Cover and keep in a cool place. Turkey needs to stay in the brine overnight or at least 12 hours.

Remove the turkey from the brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub with vegetable oil.

Aromatics for inside the turkey:

1 red apple, quartered

1 cinnamon stick

4 – 5 shallots

4 sprigs rosemary

6 leaves of fresh sage

Heat the grill to 400° or cook over Indirect Medium heat. If you use a Weber, fill your wood chip tray for smoking with hickory or apple wood chips. If not, make “smoke bombs” by soaking you chips in water for the appropriate time – about 30 minutes – then wrap them in double thick foil. Poke holes in the foil to allow the smoke to escape out of the “bombs”.

Place the turkey in a disposable aluminum roasting pan and grill until the skin is golden – about 1 and ½ hours or a thermometer reaches between 160° – 170°. Let the bird sit for 15 minutes before carving.

Enjoy!

© 2008 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

The “Anti-Turkey Day” Solution Recipe, by Beverly Hicks Burch

The “Anti-Post-Turkey Day” Solution & Recipe

By Beverly Hicks Burch

 

Ok, I like turkey…I really do…at least in it’s time and place. There have been some turkey products that have failed to “wow” me. One that comes to mind was turkey frankfurters. Blah is all I have to say. Although, I will have to say we use to get some turkey pepperoni that was more than palatable.

I’m also not overly fond of leftover turkey or chicken even. To me poultry develops a funky taste when it’s leftover and cold. Well, this year has been totally different.

Because of our hectic schedule and traveling back and forth and across four states in the 10 days before Thanksgiving, Tall & Handsome and I made an executive decision this year…we decided we were NOT going to kill ourselves cooking for just the two of us (of course we cooked a few things…like my Rumaki, green bean casserole, hot beef dip and Watergate Salad). The rest…well, we let someone else do the cooking for us.

About two weeks or so before Thanksgiving I noticed The Fresh Market was having a tasting for their Thanksgiving dinner menu. Being the smart people we are…we ran down there. Boy, are we glad we did! We opted to purchase their smoked turkey dinner. All I can say is yummy in our tummies .

This has been one turkey I’ve had absolutely no problem eating as a leftover…even in turkey sandwiches (add some lite mayo, honey mustard, a slice of Swiss cheese and a kosher dill pickle spear and you have fabulous gourmet sandwich).

But, if confession is good for the soul, I must confess this…you can get very tired of even gourmet smoke turkey sandwich. After days of leftover turkey in a plethora of ways…and, after we slaved to put up Christmas decorations I decided to treat T & H to something different and new…it was a certified hit.

You see, I’m always looking for recipes that play to T & H’s taste for his beloved New Mexico and southwestern taste buds…especially when it come to green chilies. While in the store the other day I picked up the Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes. As I was thumbing through it I found a recipe that fit both prerequisites of the Anti-Post-Turkey Day recipe and T & H’s New Mexican taste buds…it’s called Chile Rellenos Quiche. This one is taste tested and certified folks and deemed a keeper …and it’s not very hard to make. The hardest part is the way you prepare the crust but, even that isn’t hard…just a tad bit time consuming…but, yields fantastic results.

So, give it a try and surprise your crew with the Anti-Post Turkey Day Solution.

© 2008 Beverly Hicks Burch All Rights Reserved.

Chile Rellenos Quiche

Adapted from the 2008 Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes

 

1 9 in. deep dish pie shell

2 tablespoons cornmeal

1 – ½ cup cups (6 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (I couldn’t find just shredded Monterey Jack, so I used Kraft’s Four Cheese Mexican blend and the results were great)

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

1 4 oz. can green chilies

3 eggs

¾ cup sour cream (I used Daisy Light Sour Cream and it turn out just fine)

1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (yall know I’m not overly fond of cilantro so I might use fresh parsley, but as it happens I had a jar of dried cilantro and used ½ teaspoon of the dried cilantro)

2 to 4 drops hot pepper sauce, optional (I used 4 drops of Tabasco sauce)

1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. Line the unbaked pie shell with double thickness aluminum foil and bake for 8 minutes.
3. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
5. Turn oven down to 350°.
6. Sprinkle the cornmeal around the bottom of the pie shell.
7. In a bowl combine the two kinds of cheese. Set aside ½ cup for the top of the quiche.
8. Add the can of green chilies to the remaining cheese and then pour into the pie crust. Make sure you lightly spread evenly around the crust.
9. In a small bowl whisk eggs, sour cream and cilantro (and hot pepper sauce if using) until smooth and creamy.
10. Pour over the cheese and chilies in the crust. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup if cheese on top of quiche.
11. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes or until knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. I actually had to cook mine 50 minutes so ovens may vary…just use the knife test. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Serves 6 – 8

A slice of tasty Chile Rellenos Quiche