Turns out that both spellings are acceptable for the hominy soup, posole or pozole. Here's what I made tonight, based on the recipe from the Santa Fe School of Cooking:
1-1/2 pounds posole, picked over and rinsed
Sofrito: lots of onions, peppers, garlic in a little vegetable oil
Small can of tomato sauce to finish the sofrito
1 quart of chicken stock
1 heaping tablespoon of Chimayo-style red chile powder,
of medium intensity
1/2 teaspoon coriander
Salt
A few cubes of frozen cilantro, from TJ's
Optional: 4 or 5 chicken-chorizo sausages, also from TJ's
This goes a little like the dried beans: Start with your posole in a big pot, cover with 3 inches of water, boil for two or three hours. Given that I started at 4 in the afternoon and wanted to eat by 7, I started the hominy off with some boiling water from the tea kettle. Basically you want to simmer this grain good, covered, till the kernels are soft and beginning to burst. You may need to pour in more water, or maybe not.
Separately, soften up on medium-high heat the onions and peppers. (I used one red and one pasilla. Also had some extra white zucchini just to get it out of the fridge, but this is unorthodox.) A little salt and ground pepper are good here, of course. Add the garlic, and once it's fragrant, stir in a small can of tomato sauce. You get these shorties for like 60 cents at Safeway and can help you out in many pinches, aside from making sofritos.
Once you've gotten this going for a while, turn off the pan's heat. Check your posole on the other burner; if they're OK or you're just impatient, combine the sofrito in the pot. Now it's time for the stock and spices: chile powder, coriander. Taste it 30 minutes later and then salt the soup. You should feel that sweet heat from the Chimayo chile, which is considered the finest in northern New Mexico.
You can let the soup reduce and thicken some more, or not, but just before you kill the heat pop in the cubes of frozen cilantro. One last stir and you're done. Remember to chew your grits.
Optional: Cut some chicken-chorizo sausages into rounds and throw them in to the hot broth before the cilantro. They'll cook through in a few minutes. Slices of boneless chicken breasts are fine as well, and cook even faster.
