Posole

In preparation for Februgality, I'm spending my Saturday night cooking a giant pot of vegetarian posole to eat during the week (at least the rest of the day's been pretty awesome). Also in preparation for Februgality, I went to Whole Foods and bought four of those really overpriced brownies in a bag, all of which I will consume this weekend.

Here's how I make posole. The only box-thing involved is a box of veggie broth. I'm sure I'll want to make it again this month, so I'll have to either improvise, learn how to make vegetable broth myself, or take a penalty (never!). This recipe is adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian cookbook - one of my favorite cookbooks!

You need:
1 cup dried posole
1 cup beans - white beans are standard but tonight I experimented with vaquero beans
1 pound chilis (poblanos or anaheims)
3 garlic cloves
olive oil - recipe says 3 tablespoons, I think I use more
5-6 tomatillos (google these if they confuse you)
scallions
jalapeño. optional. i left it out this time.
1+ tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
cilantro
salt to taste
liquid: combo of veggie broth & bean/posole cooking liquids, roughly 5 cups

Cook:
Soak the beans and posole over night. Cook the posole for 2 hours and the beans for about an hour. This is the part that takes a long time, but you don't actually have to do anything. You can clean all the things or something while it cooks. Or do the rest of the prep. I live at 5000 feet so your cooking times at sea level may vary!

While the stuff is cooking, roast the chilis in the oven under your broiler until they look burned on the outside. Turn them over from time to time. It's good to poke them with a knife too...otherwise they might explode in your oven (not that I speak from personal experience of exploding vegetables or anything). Let them cool, then peel them (the cookbook says to seed them too, but I never do). Discard the peels and chop the rest up.

See, burn the peppers.

Ok, now the beans and posole are done cooking. Good job. Drain them but keep the liquid around so you can use it in the soup. Fry the garlic till it sizzles then put in the chopped up tomatillos, scallions, and optional jalapeño. Cook for 7 minutes or so. Then add the chilis and cumin and cook for just a minute. Next, add all the other stuff: posole, beans, oregano, salt, mix of liquids. Simmer covered for 1 and 1/4 hours, stirring every once in a while.

This freezes really well, and it also keeps in the fridge nicely. It seems to get spicier and spicier as you leave it in the fridge, though.