Monday, October 1, 2012

More Maize!

Helloooo readers!

Today's recipe has been inspired and brought to you by the rhythmic beat of the cowbell.  'Cause you can never have enough cowbell!




This cracks me up every time!

Being of Latina heritage, or maybe just because my family is so musical, I am VERY familiar with the cowbell.

Yes, I can play a mean cowbell, thank you very much.

And though I missed playing up national Hispanic heritage month - sorry my peeps - the lovely Heather has given me the opportunity to share some recipes by so very timely calling up Hominy as the latest on:

 
cue APPLAUSE!
 
Lucky for me I had recently been craving Hominy and have a recipe to contribute!
 
I call it, More Maize Soup!
 
 
 
A little lesson first: What is Hominy?
 
Hominy consists of dried maize kernels  Maize (play /ˈmz/ MAYZ; from Spanish: maíz after Taíno mahiz), known in many English-speaking countries as corn, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. (thanks Wiki!)
 
Source



Our family pronounce it Mahiz, Taino style.  Relevant, why?  Because this started as Tortilla Soup (an Isa recipe - highly recommended) - and since it called for corn tortillas (or tortilla chips), my brain - thanks to the persistence of my abuelos when I was a kid - translated it to Sopa de tortillas de maíz .  Which made me think of Maize, which made me think - this soup needs MORE Maize aka Hominy!
 
Yes my brain is a tangled web of random thoughts.
 
So this:
 
Isa's tortilla soup
 
Made up of these ingredients:
 
 
Quickly turned to this!
 
More Maize Soup!
 

And just like you can never have too much cowbell - I truly believe you can't have too much Maize in your bowl! 
 
Anyone note the third type of maize in the bowl? 
 
Yes!  That's right - good old yellow corn.
 
Heavenly Maize goodness.
 
You can have some too!
 
More Maize Soup
 
Ingredients:
 
1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
32 oz diced roasted tomatoes
24 oz vegetable broth
2 cups tortilla chips (plus extra for garnish or for scooping!!)
15 oz pinto beans, drained and rinsed if from can
1 cup frozen corn
juice from 1 lime
15 oz hominy, canned
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro (plus extra for garnish)
 
Saute onions, pepper in oil over medium high heat until translucent.  Add spices and saute for another minute.  Add broth and tomatoes.  Break up tortilla chips and add to pot.  Cover and bring to boil.

When boiling, add beans, hominy, corn and cilantro.  Simmer for 5 minutes.
 
Add lime juice and serve!  Garnish with crumbled tortilla chips and cilantro.  Serve!



Now back to that cowbell.....;)

1 comment: