chicken pozole verde

David and I spent Christmas this year in Kansas where we had a delicious white chicken chili at Old Mill Tasty Shop. After coming home to LA, David asked if I’d recreate something similar to eat at home. Because he doesn’t love beans, I went for something more akin to a pozole verde so we could use hominy instead. Pozole verde usually has pork instead of chicken, but I prefer the taste of chicken so I went with that. Because of these swap outs it’s not super traditional, but the end result is still really tangy and hearty and healthy!

Ingredients:

• 2 fresh jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

• 3 fresh poblano chilis, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

• 3 fresh anaheim chilis, stemmed, seeded, and roughly chopped

• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped

• 3 pounds bone in chicken with the skin (you can use breasts, legs, thighs, or all three)

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 tablespoon ground coriander

• 1 cup carrots, diced

• 1/2 cup celery, diced

• 3 cups chicken broth (preferably homemade)

• juice of 3 - 4 limes

• 25 oz can hominy

• cilantro

• radish

• queso fresco (optional)

Directions:

In a food processor, combine the jalapeños, poblanos, anaheim chilis and onion pieces and pulse until the mixture resembles a chunky salsa. Set aside.

Pat the chicken dry and salt and pepper both sides. In a large dutch oven, heat the oil on medium and sear the chicken skin side down until browned, about 4 - 5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook for another few minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and remove and skin.

With the dutch oven still over medium heat, add the pureed chili mixture, garlic, dried spices, carrots, celery, and a generous pinch of salt and stir well to combine. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes. Once the vegetables are soft, spoon half of the mixture into a high powered blender and add one cup of broth. Blend on high until fully pureed. Add the pureed mixture back into the dutch oven along with the remaining two cups of broth, the juice of 3 limes, the chicken, and another pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low, allowing the soup to simmer, partially covered, until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165 degrees (this takes 30 - 40 minutes).

Use tongs to remove the chicken and transfer to a plate. Stir in the hominy (and additional lime juice if necessary) and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or so (allowing the hominy to heat through the the soup to thicken). Once the chicken has cooled slightly, shred the meat off the bone and add back into the soup. Salt and pepper to taste and serve with fresh cilantro, chopped radishes, and an optional crumble of queso fresco.

Serves 6 - 8