Guns n' Posole
I bought another gun today. I took my 14 year old nephew to Wally World and we checked out a couple of cheapo .22 rifles, looking for something he can use for target practice and general plinking while visiting his granddad in Fort Stockton. We settled on a Savage Mark-II, which came complete with a 10x scope, cable lock and earplugs for about $130. What a deal.
The kid was thrilled beyond words, as I knew he would be. His father is, um, inaccessible, and it pretty much falls to me and his grandfather to provide the male role models that a boy needs. I'm really not very good at it, having never been a dad myself, but I figure that anything I do is better than nothing, and so far, that seems to be a viable strategy.
It's been at least fifteen years since I bought a firearm. I wasn't surprised by all the paperwork, but I was caught a little off guard when, having completed the transaction, the Assistant Manager escorted me to the front door, carrying the gun herself. Standard procedure; you don't wander around Wal-Mart armed (did I mention I also bought a brick of ammo?). If you want to continue shopping, you put the gun in your car, and come back inside. I found the whole thing eminently sensible, actually.
I returned to a house permeated with the tantalizing odor of MLB's green chile posole. It's been cooking All. Day. Long.
Remember in the Bible where Esau sold his birthright to his brother, Jacob, in exchange for some red stew? Esau would have thrown in his right arm had he smelled MLB's green chile posole. She starts with the standard posole mix, which she buys in Santa Fe, where they know about such things. She then adds a few vital ingredients, such as cubed pork, chorizo and green chiles, and sets it to simmering for hours. And hours. And hours.
Serve it up with some homemade guacamole and a stack of hot flour tortillas, and you have a meal so good that it borders on erotic.
It's been a good day, a day that could easily inspire a C&W song, preferably sung by Marty Robbins (who put the "Western" in C&W). But I'm really too stuffed (the phrase "full as a tick" comes to mind) to think about that. Maybe Scott over at The Fat Guy can come up with something.
Update - 2003-11-25:The posole recipe is now published in the comments to this post, courtesy of MLB, who claims that it's such a secret that even she doesn't always remember it! Just another way of saying, YMMV.
Scott, it's out of my hands. I'll check with the chef and recommend that she share the recipe, but that's the best I can promise.
I know who wears the apron in our house!
She uses Windows too, so I don't think that's necessarily a mark against you.
Posted by: Eric at November 23, 2003 09:36 PMAny leftovers? I'm free for lunch tomorrow.
Posted by: julie at November 24, 2003 12:30 AMJulie, you got right to the heart of the matter. As good as these things are hot out of the crockpot...they get even better left over! Why is that? I guess it's because the flavors have more time to get acquainted. So, yes, we have leftovers. But...they're MINE, I tell you...MINE! ALL MINE!!
Bwaaaaahhh haaaaa hhaaaaaaaaaa.......
Posted by: Eric at November 24, 2003 09:10 AMEric, I'm sure you've thought of this already, but the .22 caliber matches at the Midland Shooters Association rifle range could be a lot of fun for you and your nephew. Shooting at those type events is infinitely more enjoyable than plinking in the caliche pits.
But, more importantly, the participants must observe some very strict safety rules at those matches. It's an excellent way for a shooter to develop good safety habits.
George, I have indeed considered joining the MSA. I'll see how the kid's enthusiasm for shooting holds up, and go from there. Thanks for the tip.
I don't know how competitive he is, but I'm sure that the matches are valuable even if you're just competing against your last score. But I do like the emphasis on safety, and that's something that I'll be stressing as we're out in the field.
Posted by: Eric at November 24, 2003 05:34 PMOK, by popular demand, here's the recipe for the green chile posole:
1.5 - 2 pounds lean pork, cubed (I use those thick butterfly pork chops)
2 tbsp. cooking oil (I use canola)
3/4 pound chorizo, cooked and broken up
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium potato, diced (the recipe said a medium potato and specified 8 ounces, that sounds like a big potato to me)
green chilies (start with a 4.5 ounce can, increase according to your spice tolerance)
6 cups of chicken, beef or vegetable broth, maybe more if you want it thinner.
12 ounces dried posole
1 ounce Posole Spice Blend (this is made by Los Chileros de Nuevo Mexico [www.loschileros.com] – it’s a Santa Fe company and you can buy it anywhere in Santa Fe. I suppose you could come up with your own, the ingredients are chile caribe, onion, garlic and ‘other spices’ and it looks to be about 3 tbsps. of spices)
some salt and pepper
Brown the pork (salt and pepper to taste) in the oil, then add the onion and cook till the onion is transparent – about 5 more minutes. Put this and everything else in a crockpot and cook for 8 to 12 hours or until the posole is “popped.” Watch and if the mixture seems to be getting too dry, add more broth. I sometimes cook the pork, onion and chorizo the night before and dump everything in the crockpot the next morning. This makes 6 to 8 main course servings.
Posted by: Eric at November 25, 2003 09:22 AMAbout the publisher
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My mouth is too busy watering to come up with anything. I WANT THIS RECIPE!!!!!!!!! I've never even *heard* of posole. Yes, I'm lame, and I use Windows, too. Send me the recipe.
FWIW, it's finally gotten cold enough around these parts to think about pulling out the dutch oven and doing up some sinus-clearing chili.
Dang, I'm hungry! Oh, and make sure I get that recipe.
Posted by: Scott Chaffin at November 23, 2003 09:03 PM