Chicken Posole

I read this Easy Chicken Posole recipe on Rancho Gordo's blog and adapted it for what was in the kitchen. I had two very small whole chickens from the farmer's market that I wanted to get rid of, and this worked really well. By the time the pozole was done, the meat was falling apart, but still held together by the skin, so it was easy to pull the chickens out, de-bone them and put the meat back in. The posole was really easy to make, but had to sit on the stove for a long time.

Olive oil
1 yellow onion
2 carrots
1 anaheim pepper
3 garlic cloves, finely diced or crushed
2 very small, whole chickens or whatever bone-in chicken parts you have
1 lb dried posole (I bought mine from Rancho Gordo)
Mexican oregano (maybe 2 Tb dried)
Chile powder
cumin seeds (maybe 1 tsp)
salt
pepper, freshly ground

Dice the onion, carrots, and pepper. Heat some olive oil in a large pot, then saute the vegetables until the onions are a bit translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, then fill the pot with water and add the posole and chicken. (The water should cover the chicken and posole by a bit, although my whole chickens stuck out so I had to keep flipping them. The posole soaks up a lot of water, so make sure the pot does not dry out and add water if needed; the finished product should be like a soup.) Add the spices.

Partially cover the pot with a lid, and simmer gently for several hours until the posole is tender and the chicken is falling apart. When it's getting close to done, taste and adjust the seasonings. At the end, take the chicken out, de-skin and de-bone it, then add the meat back to the posole.

Serve in soup bowls with diced red onion, cheese such as cotija (although we had to settle for ricotta salata), a squeeze of lime juice. It seems like chopped fresh cilantro and creme fraiche/sour cream/crema would also go well.