Red posole for New Year's Day

I’m a black-eyed pea girl when it comes to New Year’s Day fare. A big bowl of the golden legumes, made rich with ham hocks and piquant with a dose of pepper vinegar is usually my insurance that I’m off to a good start. And throw in some smoky collards and a thick slice of ham and my good fortune is tripled! But not everyone subscribes to this view. Take my New Mexican friend Monica—she’ll be eating red posole on New Year’s Day.

Remember where we were 10 years ago? Yes, we were all waving our hands and fretting over that Y2K nonsense which predicted a computer glitch would bring the world to a standstill come midnight, January 1, 2000. Living in New York City, nothing terrified me more than being stuck in a city caught in a meltdown, so I made a plan to be in Texas for New Year’s Eve 1999 instead.

“Come on down!” said Monica, who lived in Dallas. “We’re having a big bash and you’ll be safe here. Plus, I’m making red posole.”



I’d never had red posole and was a little dubious that she was serving this instead of black-eyed peas. She assured me, however, that this is what her family ate in New Mexico, not to mention it was traditional New Year’s Day fare in Mexico as well.

As she began to make the posole, she pulled out a large bag stuffed with the elegant red New Mexican chiles. They were dry but pliable and if you sniffed you could smell their fire and spice. I had never cooked with whole dried chiles before, so I was an eager student, curious to see how it was done.

She then threw into the pot the hominy or posole (as it’s known in Spanish), which gives the dish its name. These huge corn kernels have been soaked in lye water until the hull and germ have been removed, an ancient process called nixtamalization. And what’s left behind is a flavorful thick puff with enough chew and squeak to keep things interesting.

Besides our dancing like fools to Beck and Prince that New Year’s Eve, I remember how Monica’s house was fragrant with pork, chiles, garlic and corn as the posole simmered on the stove. And when the clock struck midnight and we discovered that the world was still intact, we tucked into a bowl of the rich red soup thick with hominy and looked ahead to not only a new year, but also a new decade and a new century as well.



I think we can all agree that this past decade has been challenging. But there have been many highlights for me as well, the biggest of which was starting this blog and getting to know so many of you as we've connected over our mutual love of good Texan food. And while I usually prefer black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, I can’t help but wonder if Monica’s red posole didn’t help steer me onto this path. If so, I am eternally grateful.

So I raise my bowl to y’all for being such a bright spot in the past decade--may y’all have a peaceful, prosperous, healthy and happy New Year!

Red posole
1 pound of dried posole or two 29 oz. cans of hominy, drained
1 pound of pork shoulder, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
8 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of lard, bacon grease, corn or canola oil
8 cups of water (can substitute part with beer or chicken broth for more flavor)
1 smoked ham hock
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano (can substitute regular oregano)
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
9 New Mexico chiles, stems and seeds removed
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Juice of one lime

For serving:
One avocado sliced,
One lime cut into wedges
1 cup of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup of diced onion
Tortillas and tortilla chips

Method:
If using dried hominy, soak the hominy a gallon of water for at least eight hours until it’s doubled in size.

In a large pot, heat up the lard and cook the onion for 10 minutes. Add the pork and brown on each side for a couple of minutes. Throw in the garlic and cook for one more minute.

Pour the water into the pot and add the ham hock, oregano, cumin, ground cloves and ancho-chile powder. Bring to a boil and then turn down to a low simmer.

Meanwhile, take your New Mexican chiles and cook on high in a dry cast-iron skillet until the pop, a couple of minutes. Turn off the heat, add water to the skillet and let the chiles soak until hydrated, about half an hour.

Drain the chile-soaking liquid, and place the chiles in a blender. Add one cup of water and blend on high until a smooth puree has formed. Stir the chile puree into the soup pot.

After a couple of hours, add the hominy to the pot along with the juice of one lime and the chopped cilantro. At this point, adjust your spices and add salt to the pot. Continue to cook on low for a couple more hours.

Pour into bowls and serve with diced onions, lime wedges, chopped cilantro, avocado slices and tortillas or tortilla chips.

Serves 8.

------
If you also want to make black-eyed pea and collard greens (I will be), here are some recipes:
Big ol' pot of black-eyed peas
Black-eyed pea dip with garlic and bacon
Good fortune soup
Texas caviar
Peanut-butter collard greens

Keep reading...

Remember the gingerbread Alamo!

I recently had the revelation that I’ve been on the planet for a mighty long time and not once have I made a gingerbread house. Sad, I know. So I decided to not waste any more time and embarked upon building my first-ever gingerbread structure. But not one to do things the easy way, I chose to build a structure that speaks to every Texan: yep, I built a gingerbread Alamo.

It’s been noted that the first time you try something you should take it easy, perhaps not get too ambitious until you have developed your skills. But I figured, “Hey, it’s a house made with cookies and candy. How hard can it be?” I am clearly a fool.

First, I realized there were no existing templates for a gingerbread Alamo, so I would have to create my own. Drawing the pattern was a fun challenge, however, and perhaps the highlight of the project, along with assembling my cardboard cut outs to make sure my measurements were correct.



But then the building began.

I am, perhaps, a better designer than builder. At least this is what I told myself after I baked the cookies and failed to let them cool long enough so that they fell apart. I also thought this when I ended up with royal frosting all over my clothes, face and hair. And then there was the decoration issue—can you put candy all over the Alamo without incurring the wrath of The Daughters of the Republic of Texas? There were indeed many challenges.

In the end, I was pleased with my work. If you dimmed the lights and squinted it even looked festive, if not a little rustic and slapdash. You also have to pretend that it’s the Alamo after a snowstorm, because we all know how often it snows in San Antonio. (Royal icing hides a host of imperfections but it leaves the illusion of snow in its wake.) And yes, I’m certain an eight-year-old would probably do a much better job, but at least I can finally check “gingerbread structure making” off my life list.

So I’m including my instructions and the pattern. If you have some time on your hands during the holidays and want to keep the kids occupied, this is a great way to pass a day. And since y’all are more talented then I am, if you make a gingerbread Alamo please feel free to send me a photo and I’ll post it here on the site.



But even if this project never ever gets repeated again, we can always say, “Remember the gingerbread Alamo!”

Gingerbread Alamo
First you need to make your pattern, which you’ll find at the bottom of this page at the end of the recipe. Click on each image to enlarge and then print (will need to print in landscape mode):

Once you have you pattern, cut out the shapes and trace them onto a file folder or poster board. Cut out these shapes and then trace them onto parchment paper. Cut out the parchment paper shapes and now you have your patterns. (Note, there are three 3x5 walls because I used one in the center to support the roof.) Now you need to make your gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread Alamo cookie ingredients: (adapted from Food Network)
1 stick of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of molasses
2 cups of flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons of water

Method:
Cream together the butter, brown sugar and molasses. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until a smooth dough forms.
Refrigerate dough for at least half an hour before proceeding. (Can leave it overnight, but might have to let it warm up a bit before rolling it).

After dough has chilled, divide it into two balls. Roll out each ball on a sheet of parchment paper that will fit onto your cookie sheet. To make the shapes, take the parchment pattern and place it on the dough. Take its corresponding cardboard pattern and place it on top of the parchment paper. (You do this so your cardboard pattern won’t get cookie dough on it an can be used again.) Using a sharp knife, cut around the cardboard. Remove scraps and repeat. If you want to cut out windows and the door on the facade, now is the time to do this.

Please note that I didn’t draw patterns for the flag and the front-door decoration (I’m not sure of the architectural term), but I just freestyle cut out a wide, small rectangle for the flag and a thin, long rectangle for the piece that will rest on the licorice columns. Feel free to do the same!

Bake your cookies at 375 for 15 minutes and then let cool on a rack for at least eight hours.

Now it’s time to assemble! You’ll need an assortment of cadies, nuts or whatever you want to use. You’ll also need royal icing, which is the glue that will hold this structure together.

Royal Icing
Ingredients:
1 pound of confectioner’s sugar
2 egg whites (1/3 a cup)
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Method:
Beat the ingredients together until fluffy. This stuff dries fast, so keep it covered with plastic wrap when not in use.

To assemble the Alamo, take your long back wall and lay it flat. Spread icing on the end of the shorter walls, and join them at a right angle to the back wall, one on each end and one in the center. As you seal each wall to the back wall, you’ll need to hold the two pieces together for at least ten minutes (or you can prop them up with cans) until the icing dries. With the walls supported, let the icing dry for one hour.



Now take the facade and spread icing on the ends where it will meet with the sidewalls. Lightly press the facade onto the other walls (they should still be up and the facade will be facing the ceiling), hold it, and then let it dry for an hour.

After the walls and facade have dried, gently turn the Alamo right side up onto the table. Now place icing on the edges of the roof and press this on top of the back walls (not the facade). Again, hold it and then let it rest for an hour. Don’t fret if it’s not a perfect match—you can repair this later with royal icing.

Once the structure has dried, place it on piece of cardboard. Fill in all the gaping holes where the two cookies may not have been a perfect match with royal icing (hence the snowy effect). And using the icing attach any candies or other decorations you like to the Alamo.

Gingerbread Alamo pattern
To get the pattern, click on each image to enlarge and then print in landscape mode.

WALLS




ROOF




FACADE

Keep reading...

Cinnamon chocolate marshmallows

For most of my life, marshmallows and I have not been friends. I’d make my s’mores with only chocolate chips and graham crackers, I preferred whipped cream in my hot cocoa and candied-yam casserole was not welcome on my holiday plate.

I’m not sure if it’s the spongy texture or the plain flavor, but marshmallows just never appealed to me. I was even convinced that they were a chemically engineered food, with nary an ingredient found in the natural world.

But one day I had a homemade marshmallow. And everything changed.

I had always found commercially produced marshmallows insipid, but a homemade marshmallow has depth and character, with its sweetness more robust, its texture more springy and its flavor more nuanced. Heck, the two types of marshmallows are hardly the same confection.



Now if you go to a store that sells these artisan marshmallows, you can expect to pay a lot of money. We even have one place in New York City that sells each one for four dollars. That’s ridiculous! But with a strong stand mixer and a little time, you can make your own marshmallows for a fraction of the cost.

A marshmallow’s base flavor is vanilla, which is pleasant, but I wanted to jazz mine up a bit. I threw in cinnamon and chipotle for warmth and spice and then added a bit of chocolate for its bittersweet, creamy notes. After I made my fluff, it was tempting to add it to a peanut-butter sandwich, but I decided to wait and let the marshmallows set so I could eat them as they were meant to be.

My patience definitely rewarded me as the marshmallows were fluffy with a red-hot flavor, enjoyable both on their own and dropped into a steaming mug of hot chocolate.




And perhaps its better for both my teeth and my waistline that I’ve only recently been introduced to the delight of good marshmallows, because trust me, once you start eating these you won’t want to stop.

Cinnamon chocolate marshmallows
Ingredients:
3 .25 oz envelopes of unflavored gelatin
2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup of corn syrup
4 ounces of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
2 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
Water

You'll also need:
Foil
1 teaspoon canola oil or spray oil
A 9x9 baking pan
A stand mixer
A candy thermometer

Method:
Line your baking pan with foil and coat it with the oil.

In the bottom of your mixer, mix the gelatin with a 1/2 cup of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Melt the chocolate and then stir in the cocoa powder. Add to the gelatin and beat until combined.

In a large pot, mix together the sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup of water. Insert the candy thermometer and turn the heat onto medium low. Without stirring, let the syrup cook until it reaches 248 degrees.

Remove from heat and slowly add sugar syrup to the gelatin/chocolate mixture. Add the salt, cinnamon and chipotle and mix at high speed for 10 minutes or until it’s fluffy. Add the vanilla and pour marshmallow fluff into prepared pan.

Let it set for at least four hours. Remove marshmallow slab from the pan.

dredge it in powdered sugar. With a sharp knife, cut marshmallow into squares or you can use a cookie cutter for more whimsical shapes.

Keep reading...