Latin American Street Food's Red Pozole

We liked this stew, it was hearty and flavorful, and different.  Noah has declared undying love for hominy :), and we all enjoyed it in the stew.  I wish this had had some cilantro added at the end to give it some freshness, but it was still good.  In the recipe, the suggested toppings were lettuce and radishes, so that would've freshened it up, but neither of those sounded good to me, so we didn't add them.  Each serving, and we made 12 servings, was 379 calories, Owen and I gave this an 8 and Aaron and Noah gave it a 9.  This recipe calls for lard, and I used it, but use bacon fat, or vegetable oil if you desire.

1/4 c lard (I only used 2 T of this)
3 lbs pork shoulder, chopped into bite sized pieces and seasoned
3 c onion, minced
2 bay leaves
1 t oregano
1 t thyme
58 oz canned hominy, drained and rinsed
6 ancho chiles
6 dried New Mexico chiles
2 large garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Starting with 2 T of the lard, cook the pork in batches until browned.  Remove the pork, and pour off all fat/juices from the pan except for 1 T.  Cook half of the onions, then add the bay leaves, oregano and thyme.  Return the pork to the pan, cover with water by two inches, and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer about 2 hours.  Add the hominy, and cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, submerge the dried chilies into 4 c boiling water and soak for 10 minutes.  Drain the chilies, reserving the soaking liquid.
Remove the stems, seeds and veins from the chilies, the place the chilies in a blender or food processor.  Add 2 c of the soaking liquid, the remaining onions, and the garlic.  Blend until smooth.  Strain the mixture through a sieve into the simmering pork.  Return the chili paste back to the blender, and add another 1/2 c of the soaking liquid and blend again.  Strain the mixture again into the simmering pork, discard the remainder of the paste.  Season with salt and pepper, then simmer for 20 minutes.  Serve.