Posole with Garnishes

While reading through the blogs that I follow, I was intrigued by this post at Over Cocktails. I've tried of few of Colleen's recipes before and have really enjoyed them. So when I saw this one I wanted to give it a try since I am always trying to find new recipes to keep the family out of a food rut. Also I knew Oscar would enjoy this since he is Hispanic. He loves it when I try new Mexican dishes especially something he has grown up eating from his Mom's kitchen. This is probably the reason I don't cook a lot of Mexican dishes. The comparison is like night and day.

The recipe is originally from my favorite, Ms. Martha, click here for her version.

I pretty much followed Martha's recipe but made a few changes. Below is my version.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
One 20 ounce can hominy, drained
1 small jalapeno pepper, diced
1 pound tomatillos, diced (about 3 cups)
1 bunch Kale, coarsely chopped
5 - 6 cups chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 whole chicken, cooked and shredded

GARNISHES
1 bunch radishes, very thinly sliced
2 jalapeno peppers, very thinly sliced
1 small avocado halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion finely diced with 1 teaspoon dry oregano sprinkled on top
2 limes, quartered
Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook onions for 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook 1 to 2 minutes
Add cumin and salt and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds
Add hominy, jalapenos and tomatillos, stirring for 1 minute
Add Kale, chicken stock, bay leaves and shredded chicken
Cover and cook until Kale is tender, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes
Remove bay leaves and ladle into bowls
Garnish each with onion, cilantro, avocado, limes and jalapeno to taste

I chose kale over Swiss chard because Oscar and I prefer kale. I omitted the sour cream and added the dried oregano over the onions to make the dish a little more authentic. Also the avocado tastes better sliced on the side than diced and added to the warm soup. Something about the texture of warm avocado screams, "NO!" to me.

Oscar loved it but said it didn't taste anything like authentic Posole. He said it definitely tastes Latin but more like Tortilla Chicken Soup than Posole. He did give me a thumbs up for adding it to the recipe binder so I know it was good.

Ironically I made it on the first warm and sunny day in a few weeks around Seattle but I know it will warm our cold bones this fall and winter.

Below is the Posole with and with out garnishes.

If you haven't checked out Colleen's blog, give her a look. She offers quite a few recipes that both Oscar and I have liked. Enjoy!