Corn Masa and Corn Tortillas from Organic Yellow Corn

Troy down at Preparing Wisely thought I should try out one of our   25 lb Bag Organic Yellow Corn. Yes Sir. I aim to please. I was happy to take it home. Honestly, this is some beautiful stuff.

While working with this  25 lb Bag of corn. I've learned a few corny facts. Did you know there are more than 400 kinds of corn?! Oh my gosh. I for one have been a little lax in my use of the golden nuggets. How about you? I also was interested to know that I needed something to help digest the corn. To make the tortillas you will need to purchase something traditionally called "slaked lime", but chemically called Calcium hydroxide. Tory had some that took home too.

It's available for 5$ a lb here.  When corn is not treated with the lime, it has an outer husk-fiber-type stuff that makes it very difficult to digest. The dough will also not hold together at all. It must come off.  Place 8 cups of corn in a 3 gallon pot with warm water and 3/4 cup of lime. Cover with 3 inches of water over the corn.

 Simmer at least 45 minutes.   It will bubble and foam quite a bit.

 What really surprised me was how bright orange the corn got at first.

After 45 minutes it will start to split and the outer skin will start to slip off rather easily. Almost slippery. Run the corn under a forceful stream of water. Rubbing between your hands.

This is how you wash the corn...(I did a short video)

As you rinse you will see a lot of this clear film left in your colander . It is the inedible portion of the corn.
Separate the edible corn from the outer fibers.

 Run the edible portion through a meat grinder fit with the finest setting.

 I run it through once...

It looked pretty course at this point so I ran it through again with a little water.

 It should hold together like this.

The dough will look like this.

 With a tortilla press, between two pieces of wax paper  and place on a hot lightly oiled griddle.

 Cooking 3-5 minutes.

Serve warm.

There you go. Oh. Masa doesn't keep very well so if you don't plan on using it within a day or so, put the unused dough in the freezer and use within a month.

Sour Cream Cornbread Mix Using Your Food Storage

What is it about old school chili  to make a gal homesick and happy at the same time? Really nothing seems to invoke those feelings of home like that comfort food from my child hood. Maybe it's the warming influence of the beans. Hee hee.

Ironically, it's not the same without a nice rich cornbread to drizzle the chili over is it? So here's my recipe for cornbread mix. First you will need to have some of my Homemade Bisquick.

Chef Tess' Sour Cream Cornbread Mix

1 cup Homemade Bisquick
3/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup sugar or sugar free replacement

1/3 cup powdered sour cream Sour Cream Powder 

2T powdered egg Whole Egg Powder 

Combine all dry ingredients. At baking, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine cornbread mix with 1 cup water. Stir until just combined. Pour into a greased 8 inch by 8 inch cake pan or a 9 by 5 loaf pan. Bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cornbread comes out clean.

Drizzle with homemade chili. Or for breakfast, our all time favorite is to soak it in butter and maple syrup. Oh have mercy. It's comforting to the core.

If you prefer to make cornbread without a mix, may I suggest my lovely post on Scratch Cornbread from the early days of the blog. Gosh it's a classic.

Freeze Dried Corn

So Sweet It Can Be Eaten Right Out Of The Can!

This product is delicious rehydrated and can even be eaten dry as a snack!  The Honeyville Farms Freeze Dried Corn is a sweet yellow corn that has been flash frozen and then sublimated to extract almost all of the moisture from the corn and then is canned for long-term storage as a dry product.   The freeze drying process for sweet yellow corn removes approximately 97% of the water while helping to retain the natural taste and nutrition. This product comes sealed in a #10 can and has a shelf life of  up to 15 years in the sealed, unopened can.

Rehydrating can be done in several ways.  The following video provides some great instruction on how to do this:

This is a very popular product because of its high quality and great taste.  Here is a great Chili Corn Bread Recipe where you can use your reconstituted sweet yellow corn:

Green Chili Corn Bread

1/2 Cup Corn Meal or Corn Flour

1 Cup Natural White Flour or other white flour

1 tsp Real Salt or other table salt

1/2 tsp Baking Soda (preferably aluminum free)

1/3 cup Red Feather Pure Creamery Canned Butter or other butter

2 Eggs or 2 Tablespoons Whole Egg Powder and 8 Tablespoons Water

1 Cup Reconstituted Freeze Dried Corn

2 Cups Reconstituted Freeze Dried Shredded Cheese or 2 Cups Freshly Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 Can Green Chilies

1/4 cup Honey or Sugar

3/4 Cup Milk or 3/4 Reconstituted Country Cream Real Instant Milk

Mix all ingredients together and place in glass baking dish.  Bake at 350 Degrees for 50 minutes or until done.