It’s not a celebration in Mexico without pozole. The spicy, porky soup, laden with tender hominy corn and a fiery chile paste, is perfect for a crowd and just the ticket for a Cinco de Mayo party.

The trouble is it’s hard to find a really good recipe that you can make with readily available ingredients. I mean, who can find pork trotters without an exhaustive search?  Even the Mexican markets in my town don’t carry them.

Then there are the secrets that you’re not likely to know unless you grew up in the culture, cooking at your mother’s elbow. I struggled with the dried corn for which the dish is named through a couple of batches of soup before I understood that even the bags of corn in the Mexican market had to be boiled with slaked lime before washing and cooking.  The pozole tasted good but it was so rubbery and tough it was almost inedible. Cans of white hominy — many cooks’ standby — just didn’t appeal.

Luckily, I found the already treated — nixtamalized — corn at Steve Sando’s great online store, Rancho Gordo. Sando uses small Southwestern corn kernels for his posole (it can be spelled with and “s” or a “z”).  The treated kernels cook up tender and fluffy,  providing the perfect canvas for rich pork, lively chiles and the panoply of toppings that give pozole it’s festive character. (more…)

Once upon a time my favorite party fare  was  the simple dip made by stirring an envelope of Lipton’s onion soup mix into a carton of sour cream.  Salty, savory and all too tempting, it was a fixture at every party. I always found it hard to step away from the bowl.

Today, I won’t touch the stuff.  All those fake flavors and dehydrated ingredients no longer appeal.  But I still love a good crunchy chip and a tasty dip.

So once or twice a year, I make onion dip from scratch, slowly caramelizing the onions until they turn soft and sweet.  It takes more work, it’s true, but the flavor is so much better.  And if it still isn’t good for me, I tell myself it’s a rare indulgence. (more…)