VENISON POZOLE ROJO
This venison pozole rojo is a slow cooker stew made with venison shanks or stew meat, dried red chiles, hominy, oregano, cumin, and stock, then finished with fresh toppings like lime, cabbage, radishes, cilantro, and hot sauce.
Ingredients
- 5 dried ancho chiles (stemmed and seeded)
- 1 head of garlic, (peeled and roughly chopped)
- 2 pounds venison stew meat (shank, neck or shoulder meat)
- 1 large white onion, small dice
- 4 carrots, large dice
- 6 celery stalks, large dice
- 2 tablespoons dried Oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 5 cups canned hominy, drained
- 3 quarts venison or chicken stock
- salt to taste
TOPPINGS FOR SERVING
- lime
- chopped cabbage or lettuce
- tostadas or tortilla chips
- cilantro
- radishes
- avocado
- rice
- hot sauce
Instructions
- Rehydrate the chilis. Bring enough water to cover the chilis to a simmer on the stove or in the microwave. Place the chiles in a bowl, then pour the water over them. Place another small plate on top of the chiles to keep them submerged. Cover the entire bowl with another larger plate or plastic wrap. Let them hydrate for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the slow cooker. While the chilis are hydrating, pre-heat your slow cooker.
- Puree the chiles. Add the rehydrated chilis to a blender or food processor. Pour in enough warm water to make a thin paste, then puree the chiles. Set them in the refrigerator for later.
- Start the cooking process. Place the venison in the slow cooker, then add the remaining ingredients, except the hominy and chile puree.
- Cover the cooker and cook on the low setting until the meat is fork-tender. This can take around 10 hours with venison depending on which cut of meat you are using.
- Around 1 to 2 hours before serving, add the chile puree and hominy to the remaining ingredients and let it cook for 1 more hour. (If you're in a time crunch and need to cook everything at once, you can add these in with the other ingredients in step 4).
- Serve: Serve this up with any of the listed ingredients above. This recipe is great for serving directly from the slow cooker while it's being kept warm.
NOTES
- Rehydrate and blend the chiles first. Soak them for about 20 minutes, then puree them with enough warm water to make a thin paste before adding them to the slow cooker.
- Use the right venison cuts. Necks, shoulders, shanks, rib meat, or boneless stew meat work best because they stay tender through the long cook.
- Start without the hominy. Put the venison, onion, carrots, celery, oregano, cumin, and stock in the slow cooker first. Cook until the meat is fork-tender, then add the chile puree and hominy near the end.
- Cook until the meat is fork-tender. On low, this recipe takes about 10 hours with neck or rib meat, and on high, about 8 hours. Go by tenderness, not the clock.
- Add the hominy near the end. Stir in the chile puree and hominy about 1 to 2 hours before serving so the hominy does not sit in the broth all day and soak up too much liquid.
- Keep extra stock nearby. Pozole tends to tighten up as the hominy cooks and again in the fridge, so add a little more venison or chicken stock if it gets too thick.
- Use dried hominy carefully. If you are using dried pozole corn instead of canned hominy, cook it ahead of time because the post notes it can take up to 5 hours of simmering first.
- Serve it with fresh toppings. Lime, cabbage or lettuce, cilantro, radishes, avocado, hot sauce, tostadas, tortilla chips, or rice all fit this recipe well.
Nutrition
Calories: 579kcal | Carbohydrates: 64g | Protein: 53g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 143mg | Sodium: 1289mg | Potassium: 1744mg | Fiber: 14g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 14594IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 105mg | Iron: 10mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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