The day Benji came and played all day with Maddie – January 2008
INGREDIENTS:
After cooking the potatoes, peas and leek, combine all of the ingredients and puree.
INGREDIENTS:
Steam the squash in its skin. Peel, cut into chunks. Set aside. In a bowl mix the flour, 1/2 T sucanat and salt. Roll tofu in it and sauté in skillet until golden and crispy on all sides. Place in oven to keep warm and cook some more while you prepare the sauce.
Cut onions into 1 1/2 ” pieces. Slice lengthwise to make thin strips. In a wok, sauté green onions, garlic, ginger and remaining sucanat for a minute or two. Onions should still be firm because they’re going to get cooked some more. Add cornstarch to cooled squash broth; mix. Add to wok. Shake in some soy/teriyaki sauce. Stir until mixture thickens. Add water as desired.
We made tamales this year on Dia de los Muertos, a surprise gathering arranged by Katie, Ben and Maddie.
Corn Husks
Remove all the silk and grit out from the dry husks one by one, taking care not to break them. Immerse the clean husks in a sinkful of water. Rinse and pat dry.
Masa
This recipe was perfected by Scotty, master masa mixer.
2 cups masa flour (limed corn flour)
2 cups broth or water
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil (or 2/3 cup beaten lard)
Mix all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Make sure you fry up some masa cakes for everyone to nibble on while you assemble the tamales. If you’re extra nice, you’ll top them with a little chile. Yields 16 tamales. Note: A whole bag of masa mix makes 4 recipes, or 64 tamales.
Chile Rojo
One chile recipe should make enough for 1 bag of masa mix, “masa” menos.
6 cups diced pork, turkey or chicken (2 birds)
3 tablespoons olive oil (or canola or lard)
1 large onion, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup *pasilla chile powder
1/2 – 3/4 cup masa or corn flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons salt
8 cups broth (or water)
Sauté onions in oil until soft. Add garlic; sauté briefly. Add chile powder. Saute one minute. Add meat. Stir. Dust flour over chile and meat mixture and stir until coated. Add water, cumin and salt. Cook a few minutes longer until chile thickens.
*Various red chile powders (and dried corn husks) can be found at a Mexican market or in the Mexican spice section of the produce section of most grocery stores. You can use any chile designated as mild for serving red chile to a wide audience. New Mexico chile is often
described as mild, though it’s too spicy for some. It can be lightened up by halving it with paprika, which is not spicy at all. If you find you have made an entire pot of chile that is too fiery for your tastes, douse the fire with tomato sauce.
Veggie Tamale Filling I
2 onions, sliced
3 zucchini, sliced
3 carrots, grated
1 red pepper, sliced
2 cans black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
Slice vegetables in a food processor. When filling tamales, add 2 tablespoons red or green chile salsa.
Veggie Tamale Filling II
This delicious tasty mixture can go inside the tamales and outside (as a fresh topping). The recipe comes to us from my twin sister, Karen.
6 good-sized tomatillos, diced
2 green onions, sliced
2-3 medium-sized mild yellow peppers (like banana), sliced
1 serrano chile, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 bag frozen lima beans or edamame, thawed
2 tablespoons green salsa
I made up the above proportions from memory. But don’t worry, you can’t go wrong.
Gluten-Free Red Chile Sauce
Christmas 2007
1 chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup oat flour
1/2 cup pasilla chile powder or
1/4 cup New Mexico chile and 1/4 cup paprika
Then in August, 2008, I tried this:
Red Mole Paste
Soak until soft (one hour):
4 dried ancho or pasilla chile pods
8 sun-dried tomato halves
Saute in pan:
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tsp cumin, ground
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
Blend everything in the blender with a little water from the soaking.
Technically, buckwheat isn’t a grain; it’s a fruit seed. Cooked whole, it has a delightful grain texture and a mild flavor. It contains anti-inflammatory properties along with other beneficial nutrients. It contains no gluten. My children like it just fine. You can find it at Whole Foods Market in the bulk aisle. You may also substitute quinoa or hulled (whole) barley.
Cook covered 5 min (don’t let get mushy) and reserve:
Steam lightly and reserve:
Saute until slightly soft:
Add and then stir briefly:
Add:
INGREDIENTS:
1 ½ cups dry navy or lima beans
¾ can tomatoes
3 medium potatoes, diced
½ green onions, sliced
1 t dried basil
1-2 T sucanat (crystallized molasses)
1 cube veggie bullion
potato and bean broth
1 bay leaf
From the McCarty files, March 2005