Leslie Bartosh, CEC, AAC, FMP

  Pozole is a traditional stew in Mexico.   Often, in Texas and perhaps other border states, it is spelled Posole.   This stew revolves around hominy with traditionally pork but sometimes chicken.   I should note, I have seen references to vegetarian versions as well.   Common forms of Pozole include red (Rojo) and green (Verde).   This is referring to the color of the liquid. Regardless of which color, Pozole is a very elemental dish that is full of robust flavor.   Accompaniments can include lime, cilantro, onion, chili peppers, radish, shredded cabbage, cheese, and much more.   When I think of this type of dish, I think that the accompaniments and even the meat utilized reflect what the maker had at their disposal.   There is not a right or wrong.   There is what is good!     For this version of Pozole Rojo, we used chicken; it is what we had on hand.   We garnished it with cilantro, sliced radishes, diced sweet onion, avocado and smoked Cotija cheese.   Normally the cheese

  Whatever Wednesday saw this dish show up.   Riverence steel head trout, saut é ed, on a bed of Orzo with a Puttanesca style sauce. Thank you Diversified Ceramics Corporation for the great bowls to work with.  This is a great dish with robust flavors!  #LifeLongLearning #LifeLongTeaching #FamilyFood   

  As life happens, I have a one-pound piece of pork belly that I put on to cure in November.   Normally, I would never cure such a small piece by itself.   But I needed a small piece for a presentation I did.   So….. This belly went onto cure on November 12, using a dry EQ curing process.   I decided I would turn it into pepper bacon, hence the heavy layer of coarse ground black pepper.   This belly/bacon will be smoked using my standard process of using apple wood pellets for a total of 24 hours.   I normally smoke bacon for six hours at a time, over four days.   I rest it overnight in my refrigerator.   After the bacon is fully smoked, I allow it to age for five days or so in the refrigerator.   This allows the smoke to balance out.   If the item was properly smoked, this step will reduce the risk of the smoke being too strong I am chronicling this process for start to finish so you can see the steps and the daily difference in the bacon. As noted above, I use wood pellets