Slow Cooker Pozole (Mexican Pork & Hominy Stew)

I remember back in my Spanish classes in high school many years ago (I won't say how many), we would always have a potluck of international foods at the end of the semester. Many of my Latino classmates would bring dishes from their individual culture. One classmate brought banuelos, which were fried tortilla chips dredged in cinnamon sugar. Another brought Tamales. But one dish that stood out was the Pozole, a pork and hominy stew. I was hooked. I haven't had Pozole since then, but I often see it on the menus at Mexican restaurants. I've always wanted to order it, but worry that it wouldn't taste as good as the first time I had it. I was also intimidated to order it.

Pozole is said to be a cure for hangover. Well, I don't drink much. But I can tell you that this is easily a comfort food. Perfect to have on a cold day. I was finally inspired to try to make Pozole myself when I was looking through some blogs one day and found someone who made it. That pozole looked too chunky and didn't look like what I had years ago. So I decided to do a search for Pozole recipes. There were quite a few recipes out there and I couldn't tell which one came closest to that recipe. But I finally settled on this one from allrecipes.com. What made me decide on this one was the fact that its a slow cooker recipe. I've been busy all day today, baking almost 200 mini cupcakes for hubby's pinning ceremony tomorrow. So I wanted to just throw everything in the slow cooker and have it ready for dinner.

This dish was quite good. However, as one of the reviews on this recipe indicated, this was more like a soup than a stew. This wasn't the Pozole that I had back in high school. I'll probably continue my search for that recipe. But I don't mind making this one again.

1 dried chile negro pasilla (or 1 1/2 Tbsp. ground pasilla)

3 cups chicken broth

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin, cubed

2 cups chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 (4 oz can) diced green chiles

2 (15 oz can) hominy

1 bay leaf

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. salt

1) Puree (or blend together) chile negro pasilla and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth. Pour in slow cooker pot.

2) Pour remaining chicken broth, beef broth, onion, garlic, green chiles, hominy and pork in slow cooker pot. Season with bay leaf, oregano, cumin and salt. Cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 6-7 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving. Serve topped with chopped cilantro and avocado.