Recipe & Photos by Joe Freemond
This well-rounded Mexican-inspired dinner promises to have your guests asking for seconds. The best pork posole is slowly cooked over an open fire using tender, cubed pork, nopales, hominy, and tomatoes. This meal comes together with warm tortillas and a decadent side dish featuring simmered onion, garlic, and poblanos cooked together with potatoes, Mexican crema, lime, and cilantro. Make this dish over an open fire with your Cowboy Grill or in your kitchen with a Dutch oven and Cast Iron Griddle.
WHAT ARE NOPALES?
Nopales, otherwise known as prickly pear cacti, are a common ingredient in Mexican cuisine. They are found in tacos, salads, posoles, and more. The pads of the prickly pear cacti are thick with a meaty texture and a mild earthly flavour.
PORK POSOLE GUISADO & POTATOES WITH POBLANO CHILE & MEXICAN CREMA
PORK POSOLE GUISADO WITH NOPALES INGREDIENTS
• 2-3 pounds cubed pork shoulder
• 2-3 white onions, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 jalapenos, seeded & diced
• 1 jar pickled nopales (16 ounces)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (28 ounces)
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 can of hominy (28 ounces)
• 1 bunch of cilantro, minced
• 3 tablespoons chipotle chili powder
• 4 limes
• Salt & pepper
POTATOES WITH POBLANO CHILE & MEXICAN CREMA INGREDIENTS
• 4 pounds golden potatoes, cubed
• 5 poblano chiles, halved, seeded, cut into 1/4" wide strips
• 1 large red onion, halved & cut into 1/4" wide strips
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, minced
• Cacique Mexican Crema (8 ounces)
• 3 limes
• Salt & pepper
• Butter, oil, or bacon fat
• Flour and/or corn tortillas
MATERIALS
• Cowboy Grill<.p>
• S-Hooks & chains
• All-In-One Grill
• Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• Chef Spoon
• Cast Iron Griddle
INSTRUCTIONS
PORK POSOLE GUISADO WITH NOPALES
1. Build a fire in the basin of the Cowboy Grill until there is a hot bed of coals.
2. Hang the All-In-One Grill basin or wok from the Cowboy Fire Pit Grill crossbar using the S-hook & chains, and do the same for the Dutch oven, using the hooks to attach to the handles.
3. Center the fire beneath the basin/wok and begin to fry the pork (preferably in some bacon fat, but vegetable oil also works). Work in batches as needed, but fry the pork until it has a nice brown & crispy exterior. Keep the fire very hot for this step with direct flames on the wok.
4. Remove the pork from the wok and reserve it for later.
5. Next, fry the onions, garlic, and jalapenos in the leftover pork fat until they begin to soften and brown slightly.
6. Add in the nopales canned tomato, hominy, and chicken stock along with the reserved fried pork. Season with lime juice, salt & pepper, and chili powder. Let gently simmer over medium heat, partially covered, for 35-45 minutes, stirring regularly. Season with any extra lime juice, cilantro, and salt & pepper as needed right before serving.
7. Reduce the direct heat, and spread the fire out more evenly under the wok and Dutch oven.
POTATOES WITH POBLANO CHILE & MEXICAN CREMA
1. Add some fat to the Dutch oven. Once hot, add in the onions, garlic, and poblanos, along with some salt & pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes and then add in the potatoes and half of the cilantro. Put the cover of the Dutch oven on and place hot coals all over the cover. Let cook over medium heat for 25 minutes.
2. Remove the coals and lid. Pour in Mexican Crema along with the juice of the limes and the remaining cilantro. Stir thoroughly, replace the lid and the coals on top, and cook for additional 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are very soft and everything has melted together.
3. Warm the Cast Iron Griddle on the side edge of the Cowboy Fire Pit Grill, half resting it on the shelf and half over part of the coals. Use this surface to warm your tortillas.
4. Serve with fresh chopped onion, cilantro, and extra crema if you like for each taco. The posole is also excellent served over rice.
ABOUT
Joe Freemond is a former fine-dining chef, butcher, food culture educator, lifelong outdoorsman, and published photographer & writer. Having grown up in Colorado with countless days and nights spent in the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains, Joe is known in his community as someone who can bring restaurant-quality food and techniques to any outdoor gathering and help document those stories along the way. As an avid traveler and student of food culture, he takes his intimate knowledge of different world cuisines and combines them with his love of the outdoors to create meals most wouldn't expect in the wilderness. Joe is often found outside cooking for friends and family, sharing his knowledge, passion, and love for food with each meal he prepares.
