Turkey Green Posole

Since we were about to move, the Thanksgiving turkey's carcass went into the chest freezer instead of into a stock pot.    I'm off work this week, so I thought it was about time to make some stock.  When I mentioned making turkey stock, my boyfriend asked if I could make turkey posole.

Why yes, I can....


Disclaimer : I make no claim that this is "authentic Mexican posole".  I'm of European descent and none of my ancestors have lived any closer to Mexico than Ohio.  I had never eaten any version of posole before I found a recipe on the web -- and I still haven't tried posole made by anyone else.  (Obviously Columbus, OH needs more ambitious Mexican restaurants.)

I made the turkey broth the way I normally do : turkey carcass, water, onions, carrot, celery, peppercorns and dried parsley flakes (in a little paper tea bag).  Simmer until it looks like stock and the meat is almost ready to fall off the bones.    Salt to taste (it takes a lot). Strain and save the liquid.  Discard the veggies.  Pick the meat off the bones and set aside.   I leave a good bit of meat on my turkey because I usually make at least 2 batches of soup from it.  Today I got almost 5 cups of shredded meat and 14 cups of stock.



4 cups turkey carcass broth
2 - 3 cups leftover turkey shreds

2 poblano peppers

2 Tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 ~ 2 fresh jalapeno or 1 Tbsp canned diced jalapeno
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground cloves
7 oz. canned diced green chiles
28 oz. canned hominy (yellow or white)

Preheat the broiler.  Cut the poblano peppers in half and remove the seeds.  Flatten the peppers and place them on a foil line cookie sheet.  Place the peppers under the broiler until the skin is bubbled and blackened.  Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, and place it on a trivet or hot pad.  Carefully grab the corners of the foil and fold it up around the peppers, crimping it into a packet, to trap the steam around the peppers.

Chop the onion and slice the garlic.

I prefer to use a fresh jalapeno, because I can control the heat level a little more easily.  Today I had 1 very large pepper - over 3 inches long - so I decided to remove the seeds from 3/4 of the pepper before mincing it.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onions and cook until translucent.  Add the garlic and jalapenos, and cook until fragrant.   Open your diced chiles, so they're ready to go in the pot, and then add the dried spices.  Stir until you can smell the spices, and then dump in the chiles (to cool the pot so the spices don't burn).    Add the turkey broth and meat.

Drain and rinse the hominy, and add it to the pot.  Bring the soup to a boil and reduce the heat.  Simmer for 1 hour to blend flavors.

This makes a soup without a lot of broth.  If you like a lot of broth, you might want to increase the amounts of dried spices and broth.