This is based on a recipe I found in Cooks Illustrated, but altered quite a bit. I made a HUGE batch (10 lbs tomatillos, 8 poblanos, 4 onions, etc.) so the quantities below are closer to the recipe I followed, but you may need to adjust. I don’t think any particular ingredient is a deal breaker if you use too little or too much — many of the items are “to taste” anyway …
- 2 pounds tomatillos – Remove husks and stems, rinse well, dry. Cut in half if larger than 2″ diameter or so.
- 3 poblano chiles, halved lengthwise, stemmed and seeded
- Canned jalapenos — I used a whole jar for my large batch — add to your taste
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 4 teaspoons)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- pinch ground clove
- pinch ground cinnamon
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 2-3 lb rotisserie chicken a la Costco, pulled off the carcass & cut into bite-size pieces.
- 1 med-large white onion, chopped
- 2 (15-ounce) cans white or yellow hominy, drained and rinsed
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth ** See notes
- 1 cup water ** See notes
- 2 bay leaves
Garnish:
- White onion, use some you chopped above, approx 1 cup?
- radishes – maybe 1 bunch?
- cilantro – 1 bunch
- avocado – 1-2
- fresh lime – 1-2
Fresh jalapenos and/or serrano peppers — sliced — can also be chopped and added to garnish if all your eaters like the same level of spicy.
The goal for the garnish is a “chopped” mix of the onion/radish/avocado in fairly uniform cuts, then finely chopped cilantro and lime. Looks like a very coarse salsa, but any combo of these ingredients/flavors will work fine, so use proportions to your taste (and strength of the onion).
Instructions:
- Roast the tomatillos & poblanos: After you’ve husked, seeded, cut, toss in a little oil and put them under the broiler (about 6 inches) for 5-10 minutes until softened and skins start to darken/blister.
- Remove the tomatillos and poblanos from the oven, let cool a bit, remove the skins from the poblanos (leave the tomatillo skins on).
- Put them in a food processor or blender with any pan juices and pulse until smooth. Blend as many of the canned/jarred jalapenos as you would like according to your heat preference. Set this mixture aside.
- Combine the garlic, sugar, oregano, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl.
- Heat approx 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan, add the onion, and cook over medium heat until softened, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic-spice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken meat, let it meld with the onion/garlic/spice mixture for a bit.
- Stir in the tomatillo-poblano-jalapeno mixture
- Add the hominy (again – I used a HUGE can for my batch, so add as much or as little as you would like for your taste).
- ** Add broth —- For first run batch I added quite a bit of broth/water/boullion. For 2nd run, I ran out of room and only added a few additional cups of chicken stock and a little boullion (Better than Boullion chicken flavor). —- This step depends on how much broth you want. My flavor was pretty good without adding broth the 2nd time — if you want a deeper, more savory flavor, you can go heavier on the stock. OR, if you want to stretch the ingredients. The point is — at this point you can go more for “soup” or “stew” — we had soup the first night, and stew the 2nd. Both were good.
- Add bay leaves and bring to a simmer.
- I added more sugar after it simmered for a bit, because I like more sweetness — do as you please.
- Cover and simmer for as long as you want — taste along the way. Mine only spent about an hour on the stove — so VERY little time “building flavor” and I didn’t make “real” chicken stock or use bones/carcass — so I imagine this could be elevated/enhanced via much slower process/cooking.