Ingredients:

For the chicken:
1 whole chicken, cut into serving size pieces ,
1 small onion
1 medium carrot, cut into chunks
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 sprig cilantro

For the mole:

3/4 cup ground toasted pumkin seeds (called pepitas, sold ground, or grind them yourself)
8 medium-size tomatillos, cut into quarters
1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, peeled and halved
4 serrano chiles, seeded or not, according to taste (seeds are the hottest part of chiles)
4 poblano chiles, skinned, seeded and chopped (See Note)
4 romaine lettuce leaves, chopped
3 sprigs cilantro
3 sprigs epazote (some people use parsley instead)
4 cups chicken stock, strained, from cooking the chicken
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
Preparation:

Place the chicken, onion, carrot, garlic, and cilantro, along with salt to taste, in a stockpot with water to cover. Cook until tender, about 40 minutes, removing the white meat after 25-30 minutes so that it does not overcook and become rubbery. Remove from heat and set aside while you make the mole.
Put the tomatillos, onion, garlic and serranos in a saucepan with two cups of the strained chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for about five minutes, until the tomatillos become soft. Transfer this to a blender container, add the chopped poblanos and lettuce and puree until smooth. Add the ground pumpkin seeds, cilantro and epazote or parsley and puree again. Transfer this into a saucepan in which you have heated the vegetable oil, and stir continuously as you gradually add the remaining two cups of strained chicken stock.
Simmer over low heat about thirty minutes, stirring frequently to make sure that the sauce doesn't burn or stick. Taste for salt. Serve in soup or stew bowls: place a piece of chicken in each bowl, ladle the mole over it, and accompany with plenty of warm tortillas.
NOTE: To remove the skins from poblano chiles, roast them over a gas flame or in a broiler, turning until they are charred all over. Then place them in a plastic bag for 10-15 minutes. This loosens the skin and makes them easy to slide off under a stream of running water.

Pork and Hominy Stew
(Pozole)
Serves 10
A traditional dish served for comida or supper at large family gatherings.

Ingredients: 1 kilo of hominy (large kernel white corn available in Mexican markets or canned in your local supermarket)
2 kilos pork leg
4 clean pork bones
3 chilacate peppers
1 head of garlic
6 quarts of water
1 head iceberg lettuce, washed and cut in thin strips
1 bunch of radishes, washed and sliced
1 chopped onion
8 limes sliced in half
20 tostadas
Picante sauce

Preparation:

In a large stockpot bring the water to a boil, add the hominy and the head of garlic. Let this simmer for 4 hours over a low flame, the hominy will burst.
In another stockpot or a pressure cooker, cook the pork meat with water to cover and salt to taste until tender (about 50 minutes in the pressure cooker).
Once the hominy has burst, add the pork bones and simmer for another hour.
Meanwhile, remove the seeds and veins from the chilacate peppers and cook in one cup of water until tender. Once cooked, blend the peppers with enough water to make a smooth sauce, strain and set aside.
Once the bones have simmered in the hominy for an hour, add salt to taste, the pork, and the chilacate sauce and let it all simmer together for a further fifteen minutes.
Remove and discard the head of garlic before serving.
Serve in bowls and top with lettuce, chopped onion and radishes as desired. Let everyone add picante sauce to their liking and serve tostadas on the side.

NOTE:
NEVER add salt to the hominy before it bursts, otherwise it never will.

MEXICAN PORK CHOPS
(Chuletas de Puerco con Chile Verde)

Serves: 4

4 pork chops, 3/4" to 1" thick pinch: seasoned salt and seasoned pepper
1/4 C. flour
1 Tbsp. cooking oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (approx. 3/4 cup)*
1 can diced green chiles, 7 oz. (approx. 1 cup)*
1 can Mexican style sliced stewed tomatoes, 14.5 oz. (approx. 2 cups)*
2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 oven bag, 14" X 20"
* Measurement included to assist in increasing or reducing recipe as needed.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.

Sprinkle pork chops with seasoned salt and seasoned pepper; dredge in flour to coat. Heat oil in skillet and lightly brown pork chops on both sides.
Place baking bag on 11" X 15" baking tray or in shallow baking dish of the same size. Lay pork chops at the closed end of the baking bag and roll the top of the baking bag back to expose the chops; spoon chopped onion and diced green chiles onto the top of each of the pork chops, covering evenly. Sprinkle covered chops with oregano, onion powder, and garlic powder. Spoon stewed tomatoes into spaces between covered pork chops. Elevate open end of baking bag, gradually pour liquid from stewed tomatoes into bag, then secure open end of bag with nylon tie. Puncture top of baking bag with four small holes.
Place tray or dish with baking bag and contents in oven and bake at 275 degrees F. for three hours.
Spoon sliced tomatoes and liquid from baking bag onto tops of pork chops when serving.

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