This is a Mexican stew/soup that has lots of flavor and spice subdued with gorgeous slices of avocado. Posole is considered a dish that brings good luck. It's often eaten on New Year's eve, but it's also eaten any time one needs a little extra luck. Kind of a nice touch, don't you think?

Ingredients

* Enough pork to make stew 1/3 to 2/3 hominy, can be pork chops, roast or whatever version of pork you have
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* Oil
* 1-2 Tbs. red chili powder or to taste
* 2 C. chicken broth
* Dash oregano
* Well-rounded tsp. cumin powder
* Kosher salt to taste
* Water, if needed
* Avocado slices

Directions

Start by cubing some pork. Depending upon the size of the can of posole you are using, you will need enough meat to have your final stew be slightly more than 1/3 pork to 2/3 hominy. If you wind up with half and half, that's fine.

Chop onion, and mince garlic. Put some oil in a large, heavy pot and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent - about 3-4 minutes. Add the meat and cook on medium high heat, turning often. Reduce your heat and add red chili powder to taste. I never measure, but I'm assuming I use at least a couple of tablespoons. (But I like my food spicy!)

Stir the meat until it is coated with the chili, and then add chicken broth. At this point, I throw in a healthy dash of oregano and cumin powder, as well as some kosher salt. (Didn't all the early settlers have kosher salt?) If you are starting with the dried posole, you will want to add it before it's done cooking on it's own. If you've been cooking it for 45 minutes, you can add it at this point and let it finish it's cooking with the meat. You will also want to water - not the water you've been cooking it in (you want to make sure you don't have any of the lime in your final dish.) If you are using canned posole, you can cook the meat for about 40 minutes on it's own, before adding the posole. When you add the posole, remember to add water. If you want this to be a stew, add enough liquid to make it a stew, not a soup.

Cover and simmer on low for at least an hour and a half. I usually wind up cooking it for at least an hour and 45 minutes, because I get busy doing something else. Or maybe because it just needs more time. No matter which version of hominy you use, it will need time to cook. Your nose will tell you when it's getting close to being ready. Test it by tasting a piece of the hominy. It should be soft enough to chew easily, but not mush. I don't think I ever ate it with avocado when I lived in New Mexico, but I recently started chopping some on top and I love it that way!

For more Mexican recipes and other ethnic cuisines, visit http://www.recipe4living.com/recipes/global_cuisines!