Pozole for a Crowd

Photo: Jennifer Chase

Chef Autumn Cline perfects a chilly weather crowd pleaser

By Susan Able, recipe by Chef Autumn Cline

Serves 10–12.

Standing up eating oysters on chilly afternoon may require extra fortitude, and in addition to a cocktail, a hearty stew is your new best friend. While Brunswick Stew or Frogmore Stew might be more traditionally southern, Chef Autumn Cline thought of pozole, a soul food homage for her largely Latino kitchen staff and an absolutely delicious addition to our Oyster Roast menu.

Soup Base

4½ ounces whole dried ancho peppers

5¼ cups diced yellow onions

1¼ cups sliced garlic cloves

3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

2½ cups sliced celery

4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

7 quarts shellfish stock (use the shrimp shells to make this)

Pork and Soup Ingredients

4–5 pounds pork shoulder, skin removed

¾ cup brown sugar

¼ cup salt

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon black pepper

½ teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

½ onion, cut in 2 wedges

3 inches celery stalk

1 garlic clove

1 lime, halved

½ orange, cut in wedges

1 sprig thyme

1 sprig rosemary

1 cup chicken stock, beer or white wine

4 cups peeled and deveined shrimp

1 large can white corn hominy

Garnish

2½ cups shredded red cabbage

1 bunch scallions, sliced thin on the diagonal

6 thinly sliced radishes

6 thinly sliced jalapeños

8 ounces Salvadoran crema

Chicharrones

1½ cup cilantro, chiffonade

Tortilla chips (optional)

6 limes, cut into quarters (not optional)

To make the soup base, clean seeds from the dried ancho chilies. Cover with water in a pot. Cook until completely soft; strain and reserve the liquid. Transfer to a food processor to make a paste. Sweat all the vegetables with the paste in the oil in a large pot. Once aromatic, add a sachet of thyme and bay leaf, then add the shellfish stock. Cook for 45 minutes to hour, until flavorful. Season to taste.

To make the pork shoulder, make a cure by mixing together the sugar, salt and spices. Rub all over the surface of the skinless shoulder. Place in a cooking or braising pan with the reserved cooking liquid from the ancho chilies, onion, orange, lime, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf. Supplement the liquid by adding beer if the ancho liquid isn’t enough. Cook at 250° for 4 hours, until fork tender. Cool completely, then pull, shred and chop the pork into bite-size pieces. Add the pork to the soup base and bring to simmer. Add the hominy and the shrimp; continue heating until the shrimp are cooked.

Serve with all the garnishes, and a good squeeze of lime. Enjoy.