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By Root 153 0

is both an ingredient and a soup that can be found in Mexican restaurants and on tables across the Southwest. Its characteristic ingredient is posole (hominy), dried field corn that has been soaked in lime to loosen its tough skin, which is then removed. (This is the same process used to render field corn suitable for making tamales and tortillas.) You can use canned hominy in a pinch (and your cooking time will be greatly shortened), but good quality dried posole will yield a much more satisfying flavor and texture. I order white posole from the Santa Fe School of Cooking’s online market in order to avoid the hassle of trying to find good quality posole locally with its skin already removed. Posole (the soup) can be red or green, depending upon what color chiles you use.

2 cups dried posole

6 cups water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 teaspoons ground cumin seed

1 teaspoon coriander seed

2 tablespoons chile powder

2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes (optional)

Juice of ½ lime

Salt

Garnishes

Chopped fresh cilantro

Sliced radishes

Shredded napa cabbage

Sliced black olives

Chopped white onion

Diced avocado

Crumbled Cotija or feta cheese

Sour cream

Lime wedges

Rinse the dried posole thoroughly, then place it in a 7-quart slow cooker along with the water. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours, or until the posole kernels are beginning to burst open.

While the posole is cooking, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or grind it in a spice grinder. Add the cumin, coriander, chile powder, oregano, garlic, and tomatoes to the onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Add the mixture to the slow cooker and continue cooking for 1 to 2 hours longer, until the flavors meld. Stir in the lime juice and add the salt to taste. (Posole requires a lot of salt, so don’t be stingy.)

Ladle the posole into bowls. Serve with assorted garnishes so that people can add their own toppings.

Red Pepper Soup with Basil Chiffonade

Serves 4 to 6

This is a luscious, bright red soup, but to fully realize the bell pepper flavor, I recommend serving it the day after you make it. I find the bell pepper flavor is quite faint when the soup is freshly made (one neighbor couldn’t even detect the bell pepper flavor), but after it stands overnight, the flavor ripens and the soup blossoms. Serve it hot or cold, topped with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of basil chiffonade.

2 tablespoons olive oil or ghee (see here)

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

4 large red bell peppers, seeded, and thickly sliced or chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced

1 large tomato, coarsely chopped

5 cups water

1 cup half-and-half

Salt

½ cup sour cream

4 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (see here)

In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes longer. Do not let the garlic brown.

Transfer the mixture to a 7-quart slow cooker and add the bay leaf, bell peppers, carrots, and tomato. Cover and cook on LOW for about 4 hours, or until the peppers and carrots are tender.

Add the water, then using a handheld blender, puree the contents of the slow cooker until the desired texture has been reached. Stir in the half-and-half and add the salt to taste.

Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a dollop of sour cream and some basil.

Ribollita

Serves 4 to 6

I wrote all the recipes for this book one winter. How perfect—all that cold weather, and all of those great, hot soup experiments. In my close-knit neighborhood, everyone wanted in on the kitchen magic. Like minestrone, ribollita is an Italian (Tuscan) classic, and its name means “reboiled.” It was originally made by reboiling yesterday’s minestrone. Same basic soup, different day.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium