A long time ago, I ordered some dried posole corn from Rancho Gordo, and I've been trying to find the right opportunity to score some low-rent pig parts and make the delicious soup, but it just never comes around right somehow. And it's been long enough that I've started to worry about the integrity of that corn -- it would be just wrong to let it go stale and rancid.
So this morning, when I found myself with the remains of a roast chicken in the refrigerator, and a gray, rainy, cold spring morning making me shut all the windows and think happy soup thoughts, I thought maybe I could make a chicken-based pozole instead of the traditional pork-based one.
I consulted Rick Bayless's recipes for ranchero chicken soup and pork pozole rojo, and came up with the following method.
Pick the chicken carcass, saving the meat for the soup later, and put it in the stock pot with one onion (peeled but left whole and thrown in also), some peppercorns and a teaspoon of Mexican oregano, then bring to a boil and simmer as usual for the few hours it usually takes.
Put the posole corn into a pot with about 4 quarts of water (I used my larger saucepan) and a head of garlic, cloves peeled and halved. Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat for a low simmer, partially covered. Rick says 5 hours for dried corn, so that's what we'll do. (Actually it took more like 7 or 8, but whatevs.)
Soak the guajillo chiles in hot posole water until soft, then puree... strain into corn and liquid, then put in broth, add salt, and simmer 1 hour. Put the pulled chicken in. Top with radishes, cabbage or lettuce, chopped onion, tortillas or tortilla chips, lots of lime to squeeze in, and maybe a li'l guacamole.