Everything You Need To Know About Corn In Mexican Cooking

By K. C. Kudra

Corn is one of the most familiar of grains on both sides of the US/Mexico border. Although actually a grain, corn is often cooked and eaten as a vegetable as well. Even though corn may hardly be a stranger to those of us in the US, it does not have the importance in American cuisine that it does in Mexican cooking. Used to make flour for tortillas and tamales as well as being an ingredient in salsas, soups and more, corn is something you will find in a great many quick authentic Mexican recipes.

This grain has been a staple food in Mexico since long before the arrival of Europeans on the continent. Used to make flour for tortillas, tamales and a variety of other dishes, corn was already central to Mexican cooking centuries, if not millennia before the Spanish came over in search of gold. The corn-based flatbreads acquired the name "tortillas" upon the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico, after the Spanish word for "little cakes" (a name also given to omelets in Spain).

Tamales and tortillas are the most well known corn-based Mexican foods in the US; while flour tortillas are more common here, corn tortillas are now widely available in grocery stores nationwide and are becoming more popular. If you have never tried making tacos with corn tortillas, you are in for a real treat - the flavor a warm, soft corn tortilla adds to the dish just cannot be equaled by any wheat flour tortilla.

Tamales are a traditional Mexican comfort food, which you may see, served at any meal; these are made from corn flour dough (called masa in Spanish) which may be filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables, or even fruit! There are even sweetened tamales, which make a great breakfast or dessert served with coffee or hot chocolate.

Making tamales is a somewhat time-consuming task, but the end result, most would tell you is well worth the effort. If you make your own tamales, be prepared for a few hours of work; and a dish, which is certain to impress your family and friends when served.

Corn is sometimes used in salsas, where its flavor blends perfectly with tomatoes, herbs, and peppers. One common combination is black beans and corn, which makes a very satisfying salsa; you might have even seen some of these salsas at your local grocery store. Corn salsas are great with tortilla chips and wonderful with a taco (made with a warm corn tortilla, of course) or tamale.

Mexican soup recipes also include some with corn in a prominent role. For example, pozole - a spicy hominy soup with pork, herbs and hot peppers. The flavor of corn works perfectly with the peppers and meat to create a classic soup, which is a satisfying meal in itself.

If you live in a city, which has a significant Mexican population, you may even have a pozoleria (a restaurant that specializes in this soup) nearby. However, if you are not so lucky, do not despair. You can easily make pozole at home. Try this Mexican recipe in the fall or winter and prepare to discover a new favorite; and see corn in a whole new way!

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Mexican cuisine is vast and varied and if you want to know more, you can visit MexicanFoodRecipes.org where you can see just how many wonderful easy Mexican recipes you can make at home. You will also find plenty of interesting information on Mexican cuisine, which is known for being nutritious as well as very tasty. Check out MexicanFoodRecipes.org

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Momofuku

New Book Review

Momofuku, by David Chang and Peter Meehan. Never before has there been a phenomenon like Momofuku. A once-unrecognizable word, it's now synonymous with the award-winning restaurants of the same name in New York City: Momofuku Noodle Bar, Ssäm Bar, Ko, and Milk Bar. Chef David Chang has single-handedly revolutionized cooking in America with his use of bold Asian flavors and impeccable ingredients, his mastery of the humble ramen noodle, and his thorough devotion to pork.

Momofuku is both the story and the recipes behind the cuisine that has changed the modern-day culinary landscape. Chang relays with candor the tale of his unwitting rise to superstardom, which, though wracked with mishaps, happened at light speed. And the dishes shared in this book are coveted by all who've dined—or yearned to—at any Momofuku location (yes, the pork buns are here). This is a must-read for anyone who truly enjoys food.

David Chang is the chef and owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Momofuku Ko, and Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar, all located in New York City's East Village. He has been named a Food & Wine Best New Chef, a GQ Man of the Year, a Rolling Stone Agent of Change, and a Bon Appétit Chef of the Year. He has taken home three James Beard Awards: Rising Star Chef, Best Chef New York City, and Best New Restaurant (Momofuku Ko). This is his first book.

A Passion For Apples - The Real Granny Smith

By Susan Van Hecke

You know it, you love it - the Granny Smith apple. The gleaming chartreuse skin. That brilliant crunch. The perfect balance of juicy-sweet and tongue-curling tart that makes it the ideal eating and cooking apple.

But did you know there really was a Granny Smith?

Born Maria Ann Sherwood to a farming family in the lush agricultural area of Sussex, England in 1799, she married Thomas Smith, a farm laborer, when she was 19. They settled in the parish of Beckley, worked the land, and started a family.

In 1838, the Smiths were tapped by government agents looking for farmers willing to relocate to New South Wales, Australia. The British colony had been founded 50 years earlier as a penal settlement, a place to send convicts. But as more and more free settlers arrived in New South Wales, agricultural workers were desperately needed to feed the developing colony. Prospective emigrants were offered attractive financial incentives to make the move.

The Smiths took advantage of the opportunity, packed up their five children, ages 1 through 16, and boarded the Lady Nugent. The voyage from England to Australia was long and difficult, 13,000 miles on the crowded ship. The Smiths landed in Sydney in November, 1838. By 1856, they owned nearly 24 acres of rich farmland in the district of Ryde, outside of Sydney.

The Smiths were "orchardists," farmers who specialize in tree fruit. Maria was particularly passionate about apples. On their land, the Smiths grew apples and pears, as well as vegetables, which they sold at the Sydney markets. Maria was also a skilled baker, well-known for her fruit pies.

It's said that one day a salesman at the markets gave Maria a box of crabapples from Tasmania for her pie-making. She toted the fruit home, baked her desserts, and tossed the peels and cores onto the garden compost heap along with the rest of the orchard rubbish.

Soon, Maria found an apple seedling growing in the compost. She lovingly nurtured the tiny tree until it eventually bore fruit - the deliciously tart, green beauties we know today. There in her compost, Maria had unknowingly crossed the crabapple with the domestic orchard apple, it's believed.

The earliest documented account of Maria Smith's apple appeared in the June 25, 1924 edition of Farmer and Settler, in an interview with Ryde-area fruit-grower Edwin Small. Small remembered that in 1868, Maria had invited him and his father to look at an apple seedling growing by a creek on her farm. According to Small, Maria explained the seedling had developed from the remains of some French crabapples grown in Tasmania.

By the time of her accidental apple discovery, the much-loved Maria Smith was affectionately known by her community as "Granny." Sadly, she died two years later, in 1870, well before the commercial success of her namesake apple. She was buried at St. Anne's Cemetery in Ryde, where her headstone still stands.

In 1890, Granny's fabulous fruit first appeared as the "Smith Seedling" at the Castle Hill Agricultural and Horticultural Show. The next year, "Granny Smith's Seedlings" took top honors there for best cooking apples, and farmers in the area began growing their own.

In 1895, Albert H. Benson, Fruit Expert for the New South Wales Department of Agriculture, deemed "Granny Smith's Seedling" appropriate for export. Indeed, Granny's apple is noted for staying firm and crisp longer than other varieties. While Benson began the first large-scale cultivation of the Granny Smith, Granny's son-in-law, James Spurway, and later his son Fred, are credited with early propagation of the apple and its expansion in Australia and export to the United States.

Today, Granny Smith apples are enjoyed all over the world - eaten out of hand and transformed into delectable pies, sauce, and juice. In Australia, a festival in Granny's honor draws thousands of people annually. Edna Spurway, great granddaughter of Granny Smith, attended the 2008 event in Ryde.

So the next time you take a bite out of one of those glorious green Grannies, say a little "thank you" to Maria Ann Smith of New South Wales - the real Granny Smith, apple-lover to her very core.

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Susan VanHecke is the author of the children's book An Apple Pie For Dinner (Marshall Cavendish, 2009), in which kind old Granny Smith gets pie with a little help from her friends. Fun apple pie activities, music, discussion guide, and more at AnApplePieForDinner.com.

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The Pleasures of Cooking for One

New Book Review

The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones. From the legendary editor of some of the world’s greatest cooks—including Julia Child and James Beard—a passionate and practical book about the joys of cooking for one. Here, in convincing fashion, Judith Jones demonstrates that cooking for yourself presents unparalleled possibilities for both pleasure and experimentation: you can utilize whatever ingredients appeal, using farmers’ markets and specialty shops to enrich your palate and improve your health; you can feel free to fail, since a meal for one doesn’t have to be perfect; and you can use leftovers to innovate—in the course of a week, the remains of beef bourguignon might be reimagined as a ragù, pork tenderloin may become a stir-fry, a cup or two of wild rice produces both a refreshing pilaf and a rich pancake, and red snapper can be reinvented as a summery salad. It’s a fulfilling and immensely economical process, one perfectly suited for our times—although, as Jones points out, cooking for one also means we can occasionally indulge ourselves in a favorite treat.

Throughout, Jones is both our instructor and our mentor, suggesting basic recipes—such as tomato sauce, preserved lemons, pesto, and homemade stock—that all cooks should have on hand; teaching us how to improvise using an ingenious strategy of building meals through the week; and supplying us with a lifetime’s worth of tips and shortcuts. From Child’s advice for buying fresh meat to Beard’s challenge to beginning crêpe-makers and Lidia Bastianich’s tips for cooking perfectly sauced pasta, Jones’s book presents a wealth of acquired knowledge from our finest cooks. The Pleasures of Cooking for One is a vibrant, wise celebration of food and enjoying our own company from one of our most treasured cooking experts.

Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the co-author with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook. She has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, Departures, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.

Interesting Facts About Sushi Rice

By David H. Urmann

Sushi or "vinegared rice" is a favorite delicacy not only in Japan but in many other countries too. It is interesting to know the different types of sushi. For the Japanese, sushi implies vinegared rice typically topped with meats, fish and vegetables. Outside Japan, sushi is more often mistaken as "raw fish" or "raw seafood."

In Japan, they call sliced raw fish, sashimi. It is different from sushi because sashimi implies purely on the raw fish part. In Archaic grammar, "sushi" literally means "it's sour."

There are several types of sushi. The Nigirizushi sushi consists of toppings laid with "hand-formed" rice clumps. Aside from topping it with vinegared rice, it is also dabbed with wasabi and a bite-size, thin slice of fish, egg or various other seafoods. Although the egg is cooked, the seafood and fish can be served raw. The types of fish you can use are salmon, tuna, mackerel and eel.

When eating Nigirizushi, make sure that the rice side is not dipped into the soy sauce. The fish side should be the one dipped or it will fall apart. You can do this alternately, not dipping it completely in soy sauce.

Makizushi is a type of sushi rolled inside some "nori," a pressed and dried layered sheets of alga or seaweed. It can contain vegetables, fish, seaweed and rice. These are rolled into a cylindrical form with the aid of a bamboo mat or makisu. Afterwards, it is cut into suitable widths. Futomaki refers to the thicker rolls. Hosomaki refers to the thinner rools. Uramaki refers to the "inside-out" rolls.

Inarizushi has toppings stuffed inside a tiny pouch of fried tofu. This is more uncommon compared to Chirashi-zushi. You still need to go to a sushi restaurant in Japan to order this type of sushi.

Chirashi-zushi has toppings scattered and served over a sushi rice bowl. This is not regularly served in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. The toppings are either raw seafood or sashimi.

Temaki Sushi is also called the hand roll. It is almost the same as maki except for the part where you roll it into a cylinder and slice it. With Temaki Sushi, you roll it with your hands and form cone shapes. Then, it is eaten as is, not sliced.

In any sushi, the common denominator is always sushi rice. They only vary on toppings, condiments, fillings and the procedure these ingredients are placed together. These ingredients can also be collected using contemporary or traditional ways, making distinct results. Sushi is not only a favorite dish in Japan. It is well-loved in other countries also.

If you want to learn how to make sushi rice, it is easy. First, you need a sushi vinegar called sushi-zu. Mix it with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Stir frequently in the process. Afterwards, let the mixture cool to room temperature. This mixture is called tezu.

Using either a spatula or just a regular spoon, cut and fold the rice as gentle as possible. Avoid smashing the rice grains. Get a bowl and moisten the sides with tezu. It is ideal to use a wooden bowl because it absorbs moisture. If none is available, any bowl is fine with a flat bottom.

Place the rice in the bowl and add a quarter of sushi vinegar. Mix them together, making sure you follow a folding motion to avoid smashing the rice. Afterwards, fan to dry the mixture for about 5 to 6 minutes. This process will remove the excess moisture and will make the rice look glossy and shiny.

As a tip, a good sushi rice is somewhat chewy in the mouth, and sticky to your touch.

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For more information on Sushi Rice and Rice Cookers please visit our website.

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Rice Cookers From Kitchen Euphoria

It's That Time of Year For Canning

New Product

Back To Basics 5-Piece Home Canning Kit Capture summer fruits and vegetables at their prime for enjoyment throughout the year by canning at home. This five-piece canning kit provides all the essential tools needed for getting started--a jar lifter, a magnetic lid lifter, a canning funnel, a jar-lid wrench, and kitchen tongs. To safely remove the hot jars and lids after they've been sterilized in boiling water, use the jar lifter to pick up the jars and the magnetic lid lifter to easily remove the lids--with no risk of burned fingers. The canning funnel directs ingredients into the jar quickly and cleanly and offers a wide design that accommodates both regular and wide-mouth jars. Heat-resistant handles and durable steel construction makes the kitchen tongs a convenient addition to the tool set. And when it's time to enjoy those tomatoes or fruit preserves, the jar-lid wrench effortlessly removes the sticky lid. When not in use, the tools can be stored in their original box, which measures 8 by 6 by 12 inches. The home-canning kit carries a one-year limited warranty. Click on title link for more information.

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Making Goat Cheese: Simplified Process

By Maria Garza

Goat cheese is well-known for its creamy texture and tart taste. Although it comes in many varieties and flavors, the signature form for goat cheese is the soft, spreadable version known as chevre. Though chevre certainly showcases the wonderful properties of goat milk for cheese, other kinds of delicious soft cheeses are also easily made from goat milk.

The special tartness that identifies cheeses made from goat milk from those made from cow's milk is a result of the abundance of three medium chain fatty acids known as caproic, caprylic and capric acid. These medium-chain fatty acids lend a unique flavor to goat cheese that is absent in cow's cheese. They also play an important role in the greater digestibility of goat milk products.

Milk consists of approximately 87% water and 13% solids. The process of making cheese consists of separating the liquid part of milk, known as whey, from the solid particles, or curd. The curd consists of casein protein and fat, which together form the cheese.

There are two methods for separating the whey from the curd for making cheese, but both methods work by acidifying the milk. In the first method, bacteria are introduced into the milk and allowed to multiply. The bacterial action converts the milk sugar, lactose, into lactic acid. The longer the bacteria are allowed to remain active, the more lactose is converted.

This process reduces the lactose content of ripened and aged cheeses to about 5% or less. Because most of the lactose has been removed from these products, they are often recommended as milk alternatives for lactose intolerant individuals.

The second method uses an acidifying agent, usually vinegar or lemon juice, to create the separation. As the acid is introduced into the milk, curds begin forming almost immediately. When drained, these curds make a soft, spreadable cheese.

Although some forms of goat cheese do require carefully controlled conditions and special ingredients, there are several soft cheeses that can be easily made with simple ingredients found at the grocery. Two recipes are given below.

Recipe 1. Ricotta Cheese from Goat Milk. Warm 2 quarts of goat milk to 185° F. When the temperature is reached, turn off the heat, and stir in 2 tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice. If the milk does not immediately form small, grain-like curds in the liquid, add a few more drops of the vinegar or lemon juice until it does.

Pour the curds and whey into a cheesecloth-lined colander placed over a bowl, or in the sink, to drain. Leave to drain at room temperature for several hours. A longer draining time will produce a drier curd. When the desired consistency is reached, remove the curds and place in a closed container in the refrigerator for storage. This cheese can be used for making lasagna, or in any recipe that calls for ricotta cheese.

Recipe 2. Quark Cheese from Goat Milk. Heat 2 quarts of goat milk to 88° F, and stir in 2 tablespoons buttermilk with active cultures. If your buttermilk is not very fresh, use up to 2 tablespoons more. Let set at room temperature, covered, for 24 hours. The mixture will thicken into a yogurt-like consistency.

Pour the mixture into a cheesecloth-lined colander placed over a bowl. Cover and let drain in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. Store the cheese in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Quark cheese is similar to a thick sour cream, and, much like buttermilk or sour cream, is excellent in baked goods, including cheesecake. It can also be used for dips, or as a substitute for ricotta.

Non-iodized salt can be added to the cheeses, if desired.

Enjoy!

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Maria Garza is the editor of Everything-Goat-Milk.com where you'll find Everything Goat Milk. Visit the website to learn more about the uses of goat milk for health, nutrition, cheesemaking, and skin care, plus more. Copyright: You may freely republish this article, provided the text, author credit, the active links and this copyright notice remain intact.

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The Health Benefits of Buckwheat Honey

By Neal E. Smith

A number of years ago we ran an apple farm in Northfield, Massachusetts. To prepare and enrich the soil for future plantings we would grow a cover crop of buckwheat, a tall plant with a beautiful white flower. As apple growers we had several hives of bees for effective fruit pollination and the bees loved the buckwheat flower transforming it's nectar into a beautifully dark and rich honey. Our children loved the buckwheat flower season because they came to love delicious taste of the buckwheat honey. What we as parents discovered was that a teaspoon of buckwheat honey seemed to greatly help whenever the children had sore throats or coughs. This proved to be especially true if they took the honey at bedtime for they always seemed to sleep a little better. Throughout their childhood we always made sure to put away enough buckwheat honey from the hives to get through a winter of respiratory ailments.

This was a long time ago and I had forgotten about this aspect of buckwheat honey until I recently read about a study that had been done in 2007 and published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. This study found that children who received a small dose of buckwheat honey before bedtime slept better and coughed less than those who received either a common over-the-counter suppressant or nothing at all. Dr. Ian Paul, a researcher at Penn State College of Medicine indicated "This is the first time honey has been actually proven as a treatment."

The research study involved 105 children between ages 2 and 18 in their randomized, partially double-blind study. Parents would answer questions about their child's sleep and symptoms after the first night during which there was no treatment. On the second night the children were given honey flavored cough syrup, honey, or nothing at all. It was clear that the children who received the honey slept better with fewer symptoms. Dr. Paul also noted that honey is generally less expensive than over-the-counter medications with none of the side effects like dizziness or sleepiness. Dr. Paul indicated that the type of honey plays a role in the treatment. "Darker honeys have more antioxidants that lighter honeys and we wanted the best chance to see improvements."

Intrigued by this information I searched further and found that "The Journal of Pediatrics" in May of 2008 gave their assessment of this study. "In this well-designed and valid study, Paul et al were able to show that honey was significantly superior to no treatment for improvement in cough severity (47.3% reduction vs 24.7%) and an overall symptom score (53.7% reduction vs 33.4%). The findings of this study suggest that honey is better than no treatment for reducing cough frequency and improving combined symptom scores." Paul Doering, co-director of the Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center at the University of Florida has weighed in on the subject. "I believe recommending honey as a cough medicine has merits. It provides a safe option to using chemical based options," he said, adding that honey is part of a trend of recommending more commonplace traditional remedies for ailments.

It should be noted that the Dr. Paul study gave no honey to children under 2 yrs. of age and the newest research seems to support that practice.

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Neal E. Smith is web manager for Gourmet New England, a gourmet food marketplace for some of the finest gourmet foods found in New England. GourmetNewEngland.com URL for product featured in article: Buckwheat Honey

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8 Inch Himalayan Salt Crystal Plate

New Product

8 Inch Himalayan Salt Crystal Plate Put this brick in the refrigerator and serve cold appetizers at your next get together - cheese, sushi or carpaccio. Heat it in the oven and cook light meats, eggs, or fish right at the table for a truly amazing experience. To clean, simply wipe with a damp cloth and store. A properly taken care of salt brick will last many years. Original Himalayan Crystal Salt® plates are actually 2" thick blocks of salt. There are dozens of uses for your Salt Plate - as a plate for serving food, as a platter, as a skillet for frying or searing, as a curing brick, as a freezing slab, and more. Cooking, however, is a fundamental use and one to garner as soon as possible. Use as is for serving moist foods to which you want to add not only some pizzazz, but also to enhance the flavor of food with the known 84 natural ionic mineral elements. Try slicing apples, watermelon, or any fruits or vegetables on the plate to discover new taste sensations.

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook

New Book Review

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook, by Martha Stewart. Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen, teaching you how to hold a chef’s knife, select the very best ingredients, truss a chicken, make a perfect pot roast, prepare every vegetable, bake a flawless pie crust, and much more. In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, you get just that: a culinary master class from Martha herself, with lessons for home cooks of all levels.

Never before has Martha written a book quite like this one. Arranged by cooking technique, it’s aimed at teaching you how to cook, not simply what to cook. Delve in and soon you’ll be roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, sautéing, steaming, and poaching with confidence and competence. In addition to the techniques, you’ll find more than 200 sumptuous, all-new recipes that put the lessons to work, along with invaluable step-by-step photographs to take the guesswork out of cooking. You’ll also gain valuable insight into equipment, ingredients, and every other aspect of the kitchen to round out your culinary education. Featuring more than 500 gorgeous color photographs, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School is the new gold standard for everyone who truly wants to know his or her way around the kitchen.

Guacamole Recipe

by Nichole Roberts

Ingredients: 2 ripe avocados, 1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup), 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt A dash of freshly grated black pepper 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped

Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.

Method: 1) Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.

2) Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chile peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chile pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.

Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.

Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.

3) Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.

4 )Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Serves 2-4.

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