Hi Bon,
The recipe I've been working on for canned tomatoes is a fiery
one. I grew up with a chile-growing Dad who eats the hottest chiles he
can find for sport. Mom and Dad make all manner of things
with the garden's bounty of chiles: chile rellenos with big, fresh,
green anaheim chiles, chile wreaths for adorning the kitchen, jars of
chiles with carrots and onions as Christmas gifts, green chile
enchiladas...you name it. Growing up, our kitchen was even decorated
with two charts categorizing chile heat: one for chiles fresca and one
for chiles seco.
This winter (my first real winter ever), I've been drawn to the
spiciest foods I can find. We've jumped on the train in search
of mysterious tastebud-tingling Szechuan hotpots deep in Chinatown
despite negative-skin-freezing-temperatures outside. We trudged
through a white out blizzard and endured an hour-long bus ride to slurp
up chile laden chutneys and soups in Devon's Indian restaurants. When
you were here we ventured out into the frozen night in search of injera
and uber spicy Ethiopian food.
Not surprisingly, my homemade soups
have grown more and more fiery over the last several months. As
our buddy Chris--a fellow Californian transplanted in the
Midwest--says: spicy soups "warm from within."
Today I'm sharing a favorite soup that is laden with goodies. The
heat is adjustable--so no fear if you are not a fellow fire breather.
Also, do you know about hominy? A good friend of mine, who is an
expert in Mexican cooking and eating, calls it "flowered" corn.
Imagine big, fat, yielding kernels. They are neither tough nor mushy.
Their texture and taste is quite special and adds so much body to
a soup.
I could call this soup "vegetarian posole," but that title is
perhaps a bit counter intuitive. I replace the traditionally included
chicken and chicken broth with beans and vegetable broth. My friend
informed me that traditional posole come in three varieties: verde,
rojo, and blanco. Each version includes either green chiles (mild
version), red chiles like chipotles or anchos (spicy--the version I'm
playing off of), or plain chicken broth (very mild).
I get my hominy in a big can either from a Mexican grocery or from
the Mexican aisle of a non-Mexican grocery. My friend tells me that
the kernels of dried hominy contained in bags his family brings back
from Mexico are significantly larger than the type sold in the US. I'm
crossing my fingers on getting my hands on some of this monster hominy.
I hope you play with some new ingredients when making this soup; it is ripe for substitutions.
And as for the news you have been waiting for: next week we've got cabbage cooking in the Kumquat Kitchen.
love leigh
Rojo Hominy Sopa con Frijoles
2 chiles (I have used either dried ancho chiles or chipotles in adobo sauce from a can--or a combination of both)
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
7 cups vegetable broth or water
28 oz. can "fire roasted" crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon oregano
1.5 or 2 cups beans (I have used garbanzo,
black, and red nightfall beans. Canned or dried beans both work...but
slow cooking beans from their dried state makes for crazy tasty soup.)
28 oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
Salt
Lime Juice
1. If using dried chiles, soak them in hot water for 15-20
minutes, then remove the stems and puree in a food processor. If using
canned chipotles, remove the stems and puree.
2. In a large pot,
saute the onion in oil over medium heat until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and saute 30 seconds before adding most of the pureed
chile paste, tomatoes and their juices, oregano, and 7 cups of broth or
water. 3. Cover, lower flame, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the beans and hominy and return to a simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5.
Before serving, taste the soup and add lime juice and salt to taste.
Add more chile paste too, if you require more fire. I like enough of a
bite of lime to counteract the chiles.
-----------
P.S. After my mom read your previous note regarding reports that
Kumquat is becoming a bastion of food snobbery, she called me
immediately. Mom reminded me of a recipe she made for almost every
party (and definitely every kids party) growing up. You asked for
simple, and she suggested a recipe that doesn't get any simpler. The recipe also couldn't be further from my mom's actual cooking philosophy, or that which we tout here on Kumquat...but
it is ridiculously yummy.
Texas Kate's Queso Dip
1 Box Velveeta Cheese
1 Can Rotelle Tomatoes
Put ingredients in crockpot. When melty and delicious, start dipping in the tortilla chips. Watch people flock to crockpot.
