<p>Guaranteed winner! Pozole/Posole is a Mexican style soup that’s a meal in itself. </p>
<p>POZOLE</p>
<p>1 large head garlic
4 cups water
10 cups chicken broth
2 pounds country-style pork ribs
1 tablespoon (or more) dried oregano (preferably Mexican), crumbled
2 dried New Mexico red chiles
One teaspoon Pimienta Roja
One teaspoon California Chili powder (or any chili powder)
1/2 large white onion
3 teaspoons salt
30-ounce can white hominy (preferably Bush’s Best)
8 corn tortillas
about 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
Accompaniments:
diced avocado
thinly sliced iceberg or romaine lettuce
chopped white onion
diced radishes
lime wedges
dried oregano
dried hot red pepper flakes </p>
<p>Peel garlic cloves and reserve 2 for chile sauce. Slice remaining garlic. In a 7- to 8-quart heavy kettle bring water and broth just to a boil with sliced garlic and pork. Skim surface and add oregano. Gently simmer pork, uncovered, until tender, about 1 1/2 hours. </p>
<p>While pork is simmering, wearing protective gloves, discard stems from chiles and in a bowl combine chiles with a cup of boiling-hot water. Soak chiles, turning them occasionally, 30 minutes. Cut onion into large pieces and in a blender purée with chiles and soaking liquid, reserved garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt until smooth. </p>
<p>Transfer pork with tongs to a cutting board and reserve broth mixture. Shred pork, using 2 forks, and discard bones. Rinse and drain hominy. Return pork to broth mixture and add chile sauce, hominy, and remaining teaspoon salt. Simmer pozole 30 minutes and, if necessary, season with salt. Pozole may be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. </p>
<p>While pozole is simmering, stack tortillas and halve. Cut halves crosswise into thin strips. In a 9- to 10-inch skillet heat 1/2 inch oil until hot but not smoking and fry tortilla strips in 3 or 4 batches, stirring occasionally, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer tortilla strips with a slotted spoon as fried to brown paper or paper towels to drain. Transfer tortilla strips to a bowl.
Serve pozole with tortilla strips and bowls of accompaniments.</p>