November Cooking Tips 2022.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush declared November as “Native American Heritage Month”, so we are talking about the most indigineous food there is in all of the Americas: Corn. [Maiz]
As I mention before on the “About” page I started writing this blog to share with my family and friends the stories and recipes that have brought us the discovery of world stories, the joy of music, the laughter, and appreciation for good food, and hopefully this idea that every day is a Fiesta in the making.
Last month we talked briefly on the “Maize-terfully Delicious!” corn. This month we’ll explore more uses of corn masa – Nixtamalized corn flour – used to make tortillas, tamales, sopes, peneques, atole, puddin, and other delicious food.
About 5000 years ago, the people in Mexico developed a process to treat corn that would make it nutritious and digestible. This process is called Nixtamalization. The Aztec and Mayan civilizations developed nixtamalization using slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and lye (potassium hydroxide) to create alkaline solutions. … Maize cooked with lime or other alkali provided bioavailable niacin to Mesoamericans.
What kind of food can you make using Nixtamalization if you don’t have a “tortilleria” near you? We will use a pre-packaged corn flour called Maseca [ brandname] which is not to be confused with cornmeal.
Corn tortilla dough that you can use for many recipes.
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups (231g) masa harina — ¼ teaspoon kosher salt —1 2/3 cups warm water plus more as needed. Recipe from Pati Jinich.
Recipes you can easily make at home once you have made the “Corn Masa” from the recipe above. If you keep Maseca in your pantry, you can make any of them in just minutes. Enjoy!
Corn Tortillas
Sopes
Tortilla chips
Tostadas
Air Fryer Tortilla Chips
Fried Potato Quesadillas
Fried Chicken with Maseca
Chilaquiles
Champurrado
Pre-packaged products to complement the tortillas, sopes, tamales, atole that you will need .I am recomending pre-packaged products because these are of high quality and will make your cooking easier, faster and enjoyable.
Maseca is great for thickening any sauce, soup, or stew. It adds a better taste than if you use cornstarch, or even flour. You can make dumplings with the dough and cook them in a broth instead of noodles.
I hope you try some of these recipes, I am sure you will enjoy them, and I hope you can send me a picture or feedback on what was your favorite.
