The Chef Within

I remember the first time I tasted kettle korn, which was years ago.  We were at a craft fair (no I’m not really into crafts), but it was the 4th of July and at one of the booths a gentleman was stirring a huge kettle of corn.  We were intrigued and since my husband and I both love popcorn we bought a bag.  We fought over every last kernel and have been hooked ever since.  What makes kettle korn so addictive is the combination of salty and sweet.  Most palates loves to be teased like that.

But of course, being the chef and frugal person that I am, I was not about to resign myself to a lifetime of purchasing this korn.  I had to figure out how to make it myself.   So the quest began and after a few less than perfect batches I discovered what I think is the perfect combination of ingredients.  In fact I prefer my recipe to many store-bought brands.

Here is the correct ratio of ingredients:

1 generous tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 heaping tablespoon of sugar

3 full tablespoons of popcorn

(salt to taste, after popped)

This small batch makes just enough for my husband and I and should be made in a very small saucepan (about a 6 cup pan, no bigger).  If you double the recipe increase the pan size.

Directions: Combine oil, sugar and popcorn in pan, cover with a lid and take to a screaming hot burner.  Set it on the burner and move it gently back and forth to keep the kernels moving.  Continue that action even as it pops.

As popping slows down and then stops, remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.  It is at this point that you sprinkle it with salt and toss it with a spoon.  Taste the korn.  If you need to add more salt, do so.  Remember that it is the contrast between the two that makes this good so don’t be too skimpy with the salt.

Popcorn tip:  it is so easy for kernels of corn to get “old” and lose their poppability.  Here’s the link to my radio website with some great information on rehydrating those kernels because the good news is…they can be revived!  Check this out (still struggling with linking):

http://132.178.236.111/information/FFT/recipes/Popcorn,%20Rehydrating%20Kernals-2005-12-14.asp

If you’re someone who doesn’t use the freezer very often it may be because you don’t know for sure what foods can or cannot be frozen.  So here it is:  anything can be frozen.  Freezing food cannot make it go bad or become rancid.  However - in some cases, freezing can alter the texture of certain foods.  But think about this.  If you have a huge amount of something that’s left over or something that you just bought too much of – and if it is going to spoil – then why not take a chance and freeze it?   If that food is going to be wasted anyway, you’re better off throwing it in the freezer and at least trying to freeze it.

The big no-nos for the freezer are things like lettuce and watermelon.  Water is the primary enemy of freezing.  Fruits and vegetables with an unusually high water content do not freeze well.  But sometimes those same foods, if they are cooked first, freeze beautifully.

Use your freezer for the usual things like juice, meats and vegetables.  But also consider freezing extra bread, sweet rolls, muffins, cookies and bagels.  I love baking but I don’t want to eat a whole batch of cinnamon rolls in two days.  So I portion them in usable amounts and they go to the freezer and I pull them when I feel like a cinnamon roll again.   Bread and baked goods keep so well in the freezer.  They should never be wasted.

You can freeze cottage cheese and about any cheese.  The texture of some cheeses might change a little but the cheese won’t go bad.  I even freeze brie cheese with great success.  Portion all your foods in the portion size you will be using them.  Freeze leftover meats, pasta, rice, beans, sauces of any kind, meat broths, the list is endless.

Here’s a final thought and a suggestion.  Think of all the frozen food items you see in the grocery store.  Have you seen foods frozen with cheese, legumes, rice, peppers, mangoes, frozen eggs?  If they can freeze a particular food, you can too.  In order to be prepared to freeze make sure you stock a variety of air tight containers or freezer storage bags in various sizes and with a marker label those bags and containers with the name of whatever is inside, maybe even a date.  For the plastic containers you may need to use masking tape to create a writing surface.

This is a wonderful way to do something about waste and you’ll feel great utilizing everything you’ve paid for.

Last week, the youth in our church went on a pioneer trek.  We essentially reinacted some of the historic events associated with travel across the plains.  The clothing, transportation and food were prepared to  period (or as close as we could get).  In doing the research for appropriate foods for the time and travel I discovered something called hard tack.  Hard tack (or called sea biscuits by sailors) was basically flour and water baked into a thick cracker.  It was used routinely by the military and settlers because it was lightweight, tasty (one could argue that point), versatile and had an amazing shelf life.  I discovered two things in this excercise.

One…I learned that the basic flour and water recipe actually evolved and developed variations with the expertise of good cooks.  Instead of using just flour and water, cooks of the time started adding oats and multiple grains, some fat (usually in the form of lard or bacon fat), salt and buttermilk (the available by-product when making butter).  As you can imagine, the end result was infinitely better tasting and still met the other criteria for travel.

Secondly….as I made multiple batches of this “hard tack” I would vary the recipe according to the things that I had read.  One recipe said the dough should be baked with a thickness of 1/2 inch, others said 1/4 inch (kind of like a graham cracker, pictured above) and yet another said the thinner, the better. 

So I tried baking the dough rolled out at a 1/4 inch and also wafer thin (pictured directly above).  The 1/2 inch thickness sounded like a “toothduller” which was exactly what they were nicknamed when they became especially old and stale. 

When the dough was rolled out very thin (or pressed out with my fingers) the end result was very much like a wheat thin.  They were delicious!  I couldn’t stop eating them and literally had to take them out to the garage and get them out of sight.  So now I’m blogging about it in case you might ever want to make snacking crackers.  I’m going to post the recipe on the radio website, for those interested.

All the dry ingredients are mixed in a large bowl.  The shortening is added and crumbled with your fingers, then buttermilk is added and mixed until the mixture gathers into a ball.  At this point you have a couple of options.

 

1) If you want a thicker cracker you can divide the dough in half.  If you have a kitchen scale this would be a good use for it. 

Roll the dough onto a lightly floured counter to roughly the size of baking sheet. 

Transfer to greased baking sheets and work with your hands to get the dough to all corners. 

Pressing with the heel of your hand helps push the dough into corners.

Dough should be very level and even throughout.

Sprinkle with salt…

Score and bake as explained on the radio website…

Bake halfway and then cut through the lines created by scoring.

Flip each square to continue baking the second side.

2) If you want a thinner wafer then divide the dough into thirds and do the same thing.  It is a little harder to work with since there is less dough to move around.  But it can be done.  Bake according to directions.  When cool, break into shards and store in airtight container.  Not only are these great for personal snacking, I think they would make awesome gifts!

Tamales might be something most people shy away from making.  But if you become familiar with the components and technique then something that was once elusive becomes a tangible and mangeable effort.

Tamales are made up of two componenets.  There is the masa (the outer dough) and the filling . 

The masa flour sold in stores is an instant mix and requires the addition of a few simple ingredients.  The recipe for the masa is found on the package itself.  What is nice about the masa is that it can be made a day or two ahead of time, at your leisure and then held in the fridge until needed. 

 The other component is the filling.  This can be beef, pork, chicken, cheese…As I have looked at different recipes for the meat filling that are so very basic and really quite uninspiring.  Most recipes call for meat that is cooked, shredded, seasoned and then accompanied with cooked onions.  What I like to do is take the shredded meat and then see what I have on hand.  You can included diced chilies (these can be canned, sauteed or roasted), corn is also a nice addition.  Onions of some kind as essential.  Green onions can be added raw and I suppose red or yellow onions could be added raw as well as long as they were chopped in small enough dices, maybe even minced. 

And then the filling needs some “glue”.  That’s what binds all the ingredients together for easier handling.  That most often would be some amount of cheese.  Finally you might want to add a few tablespoons of salsa to the filling for additional moisture.  The fun in making tamales is changing the filling each time based on the ingredients you have on hand.  It’s fun to go on-line and see what suggestions they have there.  It might serve as inspiration.  Once again, the filling is usually something you can make several days ahead.

You will need to purchase a packed of dried corn husks (hojas) and these are found on the hispanic food aisle at the market.  If you are making tamales during corn season you can use fresh husks (called green tamales) which introduce a great flavor.

 

The husks need to be soaked  before handling.  Just place the amount needed in a baking pan and cover them with hot water.  It takes about 30 minutes for them to become pliable and during that time turn them occassionally to moisten all the pieces.  You can actually soak the husks for several days, and do that ahead of time as well.  You will still need to rotate them periodically to make sure that all pieces come in contact with the water. 

When you are ready for the actual assembly start by portioning out all the meat and masa that you intend to use. 

If you have a portion scoop, this would be a great use for it.  If you don’t then generally a 1/4 cup measuring tool is about that amount for the filling and two of those 1/4 cup measures is what you will need for the masa.  Prescoop everything onto a clean counter or a piece of wax paper or plastic film.

 

For the larger tamales you will need two husks.  Try and find  wider pieces or or arrange two smaller pieces to create one that is wider.  The wider ends of the husks should generously overlap each other. 

Place two scoops of masa onto the husks (notice that there is a kitchen towel underneath the husks which helps absorb the extra moisture from soaking). 

With your fingers spread the masa into a wide oval wetting your fingers to prevent excessive sticking.  Use additional water sparingly or the dough becomes too wet and difficult to work with. 

The oval should be about the length and width of the palm of your hand (I have big hands).

Take one scoop of filling and place it in the center of the masa shaping it into a longer roll. 

Grab the sides of the husk and bring the opposite sides together, touch and seal. 

Pull husk away from the center and then finish sealing the seam with your fingers.

Wrap the husk around the masa roll…

one section at a time and then

either tie the ends with strips of husk (which is a bit of work) …

or simply fold them down (which is a whole lot easier and has no effect on the taste).  If you feel like you need to use toothpicks to help hold down the husks, feel free to do so.

The tamales then need to be steamed.  If you have a special steamer use that but what I recommend is using the oven broiler pan. 

Fill the bottom with about an inch of water, replace the top  pan…

set the tamales on that and cover with foil. 

The foil should be fairly snug to contain the steam but does not have to be airtight.

Take to preheat 350 oven and allow to cook and steam for about 30 minutes.  Around that time take one out of the oven to test for doneness.  The cooking time really varies depending on how many tamales you are cooking at once.  If you have two dozen on the pan it will take longer.  If you are only doing a few, then the cooking time will be shorter.  You will just have to check to see how they are doing.  Since the filling is made with cooked meat, it requires no “cooking”.  You will simply be checking the masa and perhaps unwrapping one tamale and prying the masa open with a fork.  If it looks cooked you are done….if it appears doughy allow them to cook further.

I might insert one thing here as well.  If you prefer to make the smaller sized tamales the technique is essentially the same but just using half the masa and filling and only one husk.

Generally the smaller tamales are folded at the narrower end…

and the tops are left open.  Those same minis can be cooked in a tamale steamer, a wok with a steaming rack or once again laid on the over broiler pan.  The masa will not “drip out” but firms up as it cooks. 

When done remove from the oven and allow to cook and set a bit before serving.  If serving for a group they can sit on the tray for about an hour and still retain good heat.  I love things that cooperate with a large group that way.  Serve plain, with a sauce of some kind (red or green), perhaps some salsa. 

Once the tamales are cooled they can also be frozen.  Wrap them individually with plastic wrap (with the husk on) and then put several in a heavy duty ziploc bag.  Take to the freezer and pull what you need when you want them next.  They reheat beautifully in the microwave when the plastic is left on.