posole de pollo

Thats chicken posole in english and its gonna have to stay that way since there is no english word for 'posole', in fact outside of New Mexico its called 'pozole.' When it starts getting cold outside I wanna be warm inside and posole always does the trick. I have so many 'go to' comfort foods but truth be told if its cold then I will choose posole. I can make this every which way to sunday and back. If you want to know how - I will tell you.

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Ok here goes:
I altered the recipe to include ingredients you can find just about anywhere.

• 1 1/2 lbs. chicken legs with thighs
  
• 1/2 onion stuck with 2 cloves
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 5 peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon whole cumin seed
• oregano, pinch
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 4 cups canned white hominy, drained and rinsed (if you dont have the dried corn)
  
• 3 to 5 cups chicken broth from cooking the chicken legs and thighs
  
• 1 cup canned chopped green chilies
• Salt to taste
• 2 whole jalapenos, canned or fresh, chopped (optional)

Place the chicken in a large saucepan and just cover with lightly salted water. Add the clove studded onion, 2 cloves peeled garlic, peppercorns, cumin seed, and oregano. Bring to a boil over medium heat, skim off any foam that rises, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove meat and broth, reserving both.

Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in oil until translucent. Add the remaining spices, stir for a minute. Cut the reserved chicken that was stripped from the bones into 1 inch cubes and add to the pan. Stir in the canned hominy, chicken broth, green chilies and jalapenos (optional).

Cook at a simmer, covered, for 45 minutes until the flavors have married, I usually add a few dried red guajillo chiles or dried red serranos to the boil, taste for salt, and serve in soup bowls, with some diced onion a squeeze of lime some cilantro if you want and some crackers or corn tortillas on the side. A good point to remember is this soup is way better the next day.