Pork Verde and Hominy Stew

A few months ago I blogged my recipe for Crockpot Pork Verde. This is one of the easiest Crockpot meals to prepare and it's super delicious. Aside from it's ease and good taste, it makes a lot of leftovers since shoulder, picnic, butt and sirloin pork roasts are all large cuts of meat. Yesterday, summer finally made it's arrival with its suffocating heat. It had been surprisingly mild weather-wise up until now. Anyway, I was in a fall food mood, despite the heat, and I'd planned on baking. (Yes, I was going to turn on the oven and experiment with a dessert idea that had been bouncing in my head since June.) Anyhow, because of the heat, I decided instead to play around with some Pork Verde leftovers and made this incredible Pork Verde and Hominy Stew. 

Hominy is corn that has been soaked and cooked in a dilute alkaline solution of lime (calcium hydroxide). Soaking the kernels in lime, in essence, softens the kernels and loosens the hulls. The calcium from the lime, breaks up the cellulose and cross-links some of the proteins present in the corn which makes it elastic and enables the corn to be made into dough or Masa. Most recognizably, Masa is used to make tortillas. (Paraphrased from Wikipedia) 
In cooked, whole form, Hominy is soft and chewy and has a mild corn flavor which adds texture and a heartiness to the stew. I love Hominy, but if you don't like hominy, you can substitute this recipe with regular corn and additional beans, but I strongly suggest trying it with hominy. 

This is perfect for those long cold nights of fall and winter. But, even in summer, you can make it, freeze it and save it for when the weather cools down. Enjoy!
  

Pork Verde and Hominy Stew
Serves 8-10

1 small yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 yellow wax peppers, diced
1 T olive oil
3 cups leftover shredded Pork Verde*
1 1/2 cups Salsa Verde (12oz Jar)
1 29 oz. can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 15 oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 t. cumin
1 t. chili powder
1/2 t. Ancho chili powder (optional)
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 cup green onions, chopped
lime wedges (optional)

Prepare Crockpot Pork Verde as directed in above link, *However, set aside half the shredded pork prior to adding the sour cream. (I used the shredded pork without the added sour cream for this recipe.)

Place onions, peppers and garlic in oil in a large dutch oven and saute until the onions are translucent, ~5 minutes. Add shredded pork, salsa verde, hominy, white beans, cumin, chili powders, bay leaf and chicken broth. Cover and heat on medium heat for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, add cilantro and green onions and stir. Ladle into bowls, top with squeeze of lime.