POOR FOLKS EAT BETTER

Man, I love “poor people” food.  To me it spoke volumes about her dining habits  when Fran Lebowitz said, “If you’re going to America, bring your own food.” Being a New Yorker she must have been dining out above her station or something because the America where I grew up (and hey, she’s five months younger than me…) is full of succulent, tasty and filling bowls, plates and platters available in a variety of styles where ever I have wandered.  In other words, when you travel, eat where the po’ folks eat.

Biscuits and ham gravy, jambalaya, etouffé, roadside tacos, paella… simple yet elegant.  And, no, I’m not talking about some nouvelle grub where some wunderkind has “deconstructed” a tamale and topped it with a flash frozen, whipped reduction of plankton larvae letting him think that merits a 2 ounce portion for $27.50… grits and eggs for breakfast, please and hold the rutabaga sorbet and the less than useless plating dribbles of coffee infused eel saliva…

What I am talking about is the kind of good, solid food found in its natural state only if you cook it yourself or have shirt-tail relatives living around the wrong side of town who will let you in at dinner time.

Oops, am I ranting again?

To me personally there is nothing I love more than a big old steaming bowl of posolé, that unforgettable southwestern staple. 

Now I recognize the limb I am climbing out on here… since the geography is so vast so, to, are the recipes. I’ve had it in beachside restaurants in Mexico where it was thick enough to eat with a fork and I’ve had it at a Christmas Posada in New Mexico where they were feeding dozens of folks and it ran mostly to liquid and “cheap seat” cuts of meat.

When I make it (and I often do…) it lands somewhere right in between.  I learned it from a long time resident anglo of New Mexico and my first taste became my own personal idée fixe.

For dinner for 2-3 folks, I start with a pork chop, trim off all the fatty bits, toss them into my deep cast iron 10 inch with a little oil and hit the heat. This renders out the yumminess without leaving you with the chewiness later on. In this caldron of flavor I toss diced onion, garlic and red pepper for a quick sauté and then dump in the meatie, porkie bits to brown and caramelize before dumping in enough water to fill the pot mostly full. In go the diced, mild green chilies, a passel of hominy and the usual suspects in the spice and flavor department.

This goes on the back burner, on low for a day or two until everybody gets married and winds of up in bed together.

Guests almost here? Ah, now for the finishing touches…

Take to hand a pile of fresh veggies… tomato, avocado, peppers, green onion, radishes and cilantro, for example. Plate all this along with lime slices, roasted pumpkin seeds or peanuts and a bowl of hard, crumbled Mexican cheese. Take a moment to heat up some corn tortillas and you are done but for the serving up.

Like a good serving of Pho, it don’t look like enough food but it will fill you right up every time.