Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> Like almost everything else, there is no actual recipe.  But here is
> the general idea.
>
> For the masa, you can use 'masa harina' from the grocery store or
> tienda.

I have that.


> But if you have dried hard corn, boil it in lime water (water to
> which a couple tablespoons of lime [calcium oxide] has been added,
> pickling lime works fine) and then let it soak or simmer until the
> hulls begin to disappear. This yields hominy.  Mash or grind the
> hominy.

I appreciate the dual instructions because as you know, I am going to be
growing corn for these purposes.
I've never made hominy, so I'm glad you told me about the pickling lime.
So, you can drain the water, rinse, and then mash directly?


> Grow, or buy, some of thise large dried chili peppers.

Ancho?
Pasilla?
Something else?


 For a dozen tamales,
> remove the seeds from four or five of the peppers and boil them in
> half a pint of water for fifteen minutes.  Remove and discard the
> peppers.  Add a bit of curry or cumin, some salt, and then mix a
> teaspoon to two teaspoons of arrowroot powder or cornstarch in a half
> cup of so of cold water and add that to the chili sauce.  Bring it to
> enough of a boil to thicken it.

So you don't use the pepper at all?  It just flavors the water?


> This is the sauce for supper.
>
> You can pack the tamales (room temp) into quart jars, as many as you
> can jamb in there, and then make the chili sauce WITHOUT the
> arrowroot or cornstarch, and fill the jars to within 1/2 inch of the
> top.  Process as you would any meat, 15 lbs for 50 minutes or so.
> The masa will thicken the sauce to the right consistancy.


Cool.
I do appreciate all of these meal in a jar recipes.  I've never canned
much meat, but I want to try this.


> Tamales are twenty to thirty minutes from the freezer to the table
> and five minutes from the jar to the table.  They are a really good
> homestead standby. We can't grow avocados (although we buy them in
> season) but some homestead sour cream, a little grated homestead
> cheese, and some lettuce and tomatoes from the garden homemade
> chipotle and I've scarcely had better in Mexico.


I have become addicted to avocados.  I know they are loaded with fat,
but I'm telling myself it is a good fat<g>.  Making guacamole has weaned
me off sour cream based dips.  I just crave the stuff. I make it with my
own salsa and onions and some lime juice..delish...


Bev

--
"The world is my country, all mankind are my
 brethren, and to do good is my religion."
 Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)