Toasted Guajillo & Pork Posole

It's freezing outside, literally. I know what you're thinking, "Michelle, can you make me some soup so I warm my family with the deliciousness?" Yes, I will friend.

I know, I make a lot of soup. It's one of my favorite things to make. I've often had dreams of meeting the Soup Peddler and discussing our recipes over soup. 

Since it's super cold tonight, I wanted to make something super spicy. This particular recipe is from the November 2010 Cooking Light edition, I've made it before and really, this is where it's at. As always, I made a few adjustments and included them below.

3 dried guajillo chiles
1 1/2 pounds pork loin, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 Tbsp. canola oil
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. ground cumin
Dash of ground coriander
Dash of ground chipotle chili pepper  
1 tsp. Mexican Oregano
1/4 tsp. Chinese 5 spice (I know, we're cooking Mexican, but you know how I do)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped into large squares
3 small chipotle chiles in adobo sauce + 1 Tbsp. of adobo sauce from the can
1 29-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained

Preheat oven to 400°. Wash chiles and put them a baking sheet, drizzled with a little olive oil. Bake at 400° for 4 minutes or until dark. Cool; remove stems and seeds and slice or tear into strips. 
 
Sprinkle pork with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add pork to pan; cook 5 minutes or until browned. 

Remove pork from pan. Now add the onions, garlic and hominy. Saute for about 5 minutes to soften a bit. Next add all the seasonings: cumin, oregano, Chinese 5 spice, coriander and chipotle chili powder. Stir and salt and pepper to taste. Let the spices toast together with the veggies for about 3 minutes, then add guajillo chiles, diced chipotle peppers and tablespoon of adobo sauce. 

Add broth, water and browned pork.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about an hour, or until pork is tender. Serve with diced cilantro leaves, and sliced radishes. Oh, and this would be great with some sliced avocado on top.

Listening To: Cee Lo Green with Bruno Mars, F*ck You (If you're underage, don't watch this video. Unless your parents are cool with you cussing.)

Tomato Basil Soup

I stopped by HEB on my way home, battling cold, drizzle (fo shizzle) and hunger, so wouldn't you know it, I forgot the tomato juice. Of course. I really wanted to share this awesomely rich and reasonably healthy Tomato Basil Soup recipe from Cooking Light. So I made it anyway, with a few modifications, and it worked great! Here is my adapted version below:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs Tomatoes (I used 6 small and 1 medium big)

1/2 Onion, diced

1 large Shallot, diced

2 cups Chicken Broth

1 cup Milk

1/3 cup reduced fat cream cheese

1/4 Tsp. Herbs de Provence

2-3 oz. of Basil, Chiffonade-ed

1 Tbsp Olive Oil or Butter

Salt & Pepper to Taste

To peel the tomatoes, first drop them in boiling water for 3-5 mins, or when the skin starts to wrinkle a bit, then cool them in ice water. Once tomato is cooled, cut a slit, then peel. Also core the top part of the tomato. 

Heat a dutch oven/pot with either 1 Tbsp of olive oil or butter, then saute the onions and shallots 5 mins. Add 1/4 Tsp of Herbs de Provence, stir. Rough chop the tomatoes and keep all the juice, adding to the pan as necessary. Salt and pepper to taste, and let the natural tomato juices thicken, about 5 minutes. (Picture below before broth)

Now add 2 cups of chicken broth and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Blend/puree the tomatoes, onions and broth in a blender with 2/3 of the basil. Do this part in 2 batches, or it could get messy. I actually prefer my tomato soup a little chunky, so I just pureed half. Put back in the pot, set to medium heat, then add 1 cup of milk and 1/3 cup of the cream cheese. Whisk the soup a little get the cream cheese completely blended. Cook for about 5-8 more minutes, then serve. Topped with the remaining 1/3 of the basil. 

Link to original recipe for Cooking Light Tomato Basil Soup

Next time I think I will add some carmelized carrots to this recipe...Yum. Just think of the sweet savoriness. Carrot Tomato Basil Soup in the works, folks.

Speaking of carrots, last night I made some Honey and Ginger Glazed Carrots to go with our Kadhi Pakora (Indian Chickpea Stew) and naan from Lamba's. Super simple: Peel carrots, cut in 1/2 inch chunks. I had a small bunch, probably about 1/2 a pound, so I cooked with 1/2 cup of chicken broth 1 Tsp of margarine, stir and cover until soft, about 5 mins.  Then add 1 Tbsp of honey, a few dashes of ground ginger, salt and pepper to taste. Stir until a glaze is developed, take off the heat and serve.

Listening to: Wilco, Spiders: