So, I’ve been a little out of touch these past couple of weeks. I even missed Thanksgiving. No turkey, no stuffing, no pie. Don’t feel sorry for me though — my family decided to check out this year and spend the holiday in Mexico! I must say that it was really nice to not have to deal with the whole gluten-free food planning and making. And although traditional Thanksgiving meals were being offered in many Mexican restaurants, we opted for a traditional Mexican meal instead.
With the evening breezes blowing, we dined on Chicken Pozole, a Mexican stew that dates to pre-Columbian times.
Naturally gluten-free, pozole is a soup usually made with pork or chicken. The key ingredient is hominy, which is dried corn that is then soaked and its hull removed. You can find canned hominy in grocery stores or specialty markets.
What also makes this soup special are the garnishes included. Here, I was offered cubed queso fresco (Mexican cheese), diced onions and jalapenos, dried oregano and chili peppers, and fresh lime, all served on a crisp corn tortilla which can be broken into pieces and added.
Also served on the plate are chicharrones, or fried pork rinds. You would never catch me eating fried pork rinds out of a bag, but these house-made ones somehow make it into my belly every time!
Mmmm, now that I have returned to winter, this stew sounds even more appealing. Delicioso!
Here are a couple pozole recipes that sound like the one I enjoyed above:
- Chicken Pozole from Simply Recipes
- Chicken Posole from Real Simple magazine
- Slow-Cooker Chicken Posole from Woman’s Day magazine
Fenn says
Years ago, before I was gluten free, Jen Castle from Hell’s Backbone Grill made me an incredible chicken posole. I found this meal to be very comforting on a cold, rainy San Francisco night, especially b/c I had no digestive pain to follow. Glad you enjoyed a similar recipe on Thanksgiving!
*Castle’s recipe is in the cookbook, With a Measure of Grace.
http://www.hellsbackbonegrill.com/
gfe--gluten free easily says
I’m so glad you had that wonderful Thanksgiving, Alison. One year we ate our Thanskgiving meal in the Nashville Zoo. In that case, it was all about being together and having a wonderful day.
My friend who is from New Mexico always serves posole at her Christmas open house, which we attend every year. She has the basic posole (made from pork) and then green and red chili peppers for folks to add as they wish. Yum.
Shirley
JDel says
One note – the slow cooker recipe you cited has canned enchilada sauce, which I commonly find to have gluten, so read the label carefully! I have started using this recipe from the gluten free vegan for enchiladas which has a green sauce that is super easy to make!:
http://www.theglutenfreevegan.com/2012/02/black-bean-sweet-potato-enchiladas/
Enjoy!