Peace and Hominy

If you have not read the book "Like Water for Chocolate" then I can't possibly recommend it highly enough. I do, however, suggest that you read it with a napkin nearby to wipe the drool from your chin as you read Laura Esquivel's magical descriptions of traditional Mexican cooking. I think it was that book that made me want nothing more than to become a Mexican grandmother, capable of performing miracles with food; stews infused with love and tamales succulent with tradition. However, for now, I must admit I'm certainly in the fledgling stages of this dream, with the latest chapter being my attempt at Mexican Pozole.

Like my search for the perfect Green Chile recipe, I found that Pozole recipes differ dramatically in almost every element of the recipes. It seems that these traditional dishes differ from family to family in how they are made and what they are made of, so I took some inspiration from a few recipes I found online and created something that I am calling Pozole. The one consistency between recipes did seem to be the use of the ingredient hominy, which is essentially dried and treated corn. It can be found at any Mexican grocer, as well as most supermarkets with a Mexican food section. It can be bought either dried or canned, much like beans, meaning the dried version must be soaked to soften. They taste something like a corn tortilla but have the consistency of a potato, adding a heartiness to the Pozole stew. I bought canned, but in the future I would love to start with the dried in my quest to make my food more ethnically authentic. 

In the end, the dish I made was so entirely unlike the Mexican Pozole that Ryan had eaten at a party about a year ago and that had inspired the project that it probably should be given a new name (perhaps Pozole Americana?). However, whatever I made did seem to make a delicious breakfast over eggs with a side of toast. It also made an excellent dinner with cilantro and sour cream on top.

This post is meant to focus on hominy, but I must put in a side note about cilantro: did you know a lot of people think it tastes like soap? My college roommate and cooking buddy Lanie was one of them, but I quickly realized she wasn't alone. I am certainly not one of those people, believing that cilantro should be eaten on just about everything, but I just want all of you cilantro haters out there that you are not alone in your soapy conception. Find comfort in that fact, and then make this Pozole anyways.

Pozole Americana
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 pound chopped pork or for vegetarians, try eggplant instead
1 onion chopped
4 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1 24 oz. container chicken or veggie stock plus 1.5 cups water
1 8 oz. can diced green chiles
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 30 oz. can hominy or 1 bag dried and soaked
salt and pepper to taste


Cook pork in 1 tbsp olive oil until browned. Put aside. If using eggplant, leave in. Add the onion, garlic and the rest of the olive oil and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Add the cumin and coriander and cook another minute. Add the chicken stock and water, chiles, tomatoes, hominy, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Let boil for 3 to 5 minutes, then turn to low and simmer one hour. 
This recipe makes quite a few recipes, so you can enjoy for a couple of days, or freeze some for a day you don't feel like cooking.

Defining Dessert

I have a question to pose: what is dessert? Is dessert just whatever you eat after dinner? If you eat some pickles at 9pm is that a dessert? What about cheese plates? Chips? I think most of us associate desserts with sweet things like chocolate, ice cream, and cookies. Despite a wave of new age chefs making desserts using bacon or avocado foam, dessert seems to have mainly remained a traditional, sweet delicacy enjoyed after a meal that gives you that small burst of pleasure mixed with guilt.

The first night that Ryan asked me if I wanted dessert I got pretty excited. He hadn't offered before, and I'd assumed that meant he didn't possess sweet food, a not terribly uncommon occurrence. I take after my mother with a strong affinity for all things sweet and especially those that are rich and chocolatey, so you can imagine that I was moderately disappointed when Ryan brought out two bowls of yogurt. Yogurt isn't dessert to me; maybe breakfast or a snack, but I wouldn't call it dessert.

Ryan's larder it seemed was blemish-less, with no traces of sweet or savory indulgences. I have never eaten terribly unhealthily, but I did always keep a bag of chocolate chips in the freezer for days when fresh baked chocolate chip cookies just sounded too good to resist. However, we all grow and change, and I decided that I would do my best to adapt to my new roomie's food choices and not bring chocolate into the house. Instead, I brought granola.

Granola walks a fine line between crumbled up cookie, and seemingly healthy snack. We started buying granola at the store, but then the latest issue of Bon Appetit inspired me to try to make it myself. I don't follow recipes terribly closely because I hate having to go shopping every time I cook, so my recipe is what Bon Appetit would have come up with if they had my kitchen and not their crazy big, fully stocked, state of the art, totally wonderful, oh man, I've got to stop because I'm beginning to drool thinking about their kitchen. Anyways, I use recipes as guides, which is why I try to offer substitute ingredients when I write them; I'm hoping that if I name enough substitutes, eventually I'll describe something that you have in your kitchen. So for all of you with roommates, husbands, wives, partners, etc. that lack a sweet tooth, fool everyone by making some granola. I am also including Yogurt Dessert a la Ryan because I think it might change your mind about dessert forever.

Easy Granola
3/4 c coconut flakes
4 c oats
1/2 c veg oil or melted margarine (butter fine too)
1/4 c honey
1/4 c sugar
1/4 c water
3 tbsp additional butter or margarine
3/4 c almonds, sliced
1/2 c flax seed
1/4 tsp salt (preferably sea salt)
any other fruits, nuts, berries you have around (suggestions: raisins, pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, craisins, apricots)


Toast coconut flakes on a baking sheet in an oven preheated to 325 for about 8 minutes or until golden brown. Combine oats, margarine, honey, sugar, and water in bowl and stir together. Place on a baking sheet and put in oven to cook until oats have toasted (appr. 40 minutes). Place the 3 tbsp butter in a saucepan. Add the almonds, flax seeds and/or any other nuts you are using. Cook for about 10 minutes on low heat until nuts are brown and toasted. When everything is ready, combine all together and sprinkle with the salt, then put granola in a container with a lid that seals. I used the oats container that I'd just finished up and it worked great! 

Yogurt Dessert a la Ryan 
1/2 c yogurt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a handful of frozen blueberries (or fresh if you have them, but frozen are quite good actually)
1/4 c granola
2 tbsp peanut butter


Mix and munch. You won't even miss the chocolate. 

Chickpeas aren't just for hummus anymore...

It's grocery day. That means that breakfast is the butt ends of the last 3 loafs of bread we consumed, and that there's only enough leftovers for one person's lunch. I let Ryan take the last tupperware container of pasta and creamed broccoli because I had an hour this morning to make myself something. Searching through the cupboards, it appeared my choices consisted of a single tortilla, some very brown bananas, and chickpeas. No contest. Crispy chickpeas it is!

I didn't like chickpeas for a long time. I still can't eat them raw and find that my gag reflex is engaged when I see them displayed in a salad bar. Sure, I liked hummus, but that's like saying you like tomatoes because you eat spaghetti sauce. Not the same. However, now that I'm a "grownup" I've decided to start exploring all the foods I don't like (the list isn't terribly long) and find a way to cook them so that I do.

Enter, a Providence, Rhode Island establishment known as FOO(d). Despite the somewhat bizarre and possibly pretentious name, this isn't a fancy establishment. AS220, a local arts and music establishment, set up the restaurant next door to give people somewhere to hang out in between local bands or after an art show. I was bummed when they shut down the old Taco shop that used to live there and opened up FOO(d), but my disappointment soon faded when I ate there for the first time. My main dish (a sandwich, I think) was nothing to call home about, but in the location where one would normally find french fries sat my old nemesis: chickpeas. I was just starting to push them over to my friend next to me in a decided act of rejection when the grown up inside of me woke up and realized that I should try them and stop behaving like a five year old, feeding her lima beans to the lab under the table. And so began my love affair with crispy chickpeas.

What I learned when I returned home to my kitchen and immediately began preparations to make these chickpeas myself was that, much to my delight, you couldn't really mess them up! Every combination of spices was pretty fantastic, though my favorite quickly became an Indian spice combo. The trick was that you were getting rid of that weird texture that chickpeas have and replacing it with the greasy crunch of a snack. The somewhat bland flavor of chickpeas was infused with olive oil and fragrant garam masala.

I recommend you make these chickpeas, and then I recommend that you do some research. Choose a food item that you don't like, are scared of, have never tried. Begin searching for the one recipe you think might change your mind. Sometimes it's fun to be wrong.

Crispy Chickpeas, Indian Style
A liberal 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 15-ounce can chickpeas drained and patted dry on a paper towel or cloth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp curry powder


Put olive oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Pour chickpeas into pan. Sprinkle spices over the chickpeas as they cook. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. When they are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, you have finished. Now snack away! Note: best eaten fresh out of the pan, but you can try to keep them around for a day or two...I bet you won't be able to!

Superbowl 2011

Ryan and I went nextdoor to our neighbors' house for the Superbowl. I'm not a football fan by any means, but I do love the party atmosphere and the large amounts of really bad-for-you food that generally comes along with such an occasion. This year I was a little nervous because I hadn't met anyone in our neighborhood yet, having only moved here to Pueblo a month ago. I dealt with my nervousness by cooking. I knew no one wanted me to make something too veggie heavy, and so I began to make homemade tortilla chips. My nervousness settled as I rolled out tortillas one by one and flipped them in the pan. I think when some people are nervous about meeting people they feel like they need to make themselves look really good, some people feel like they need to be really funny or charming. I think I've decided that I'll try going straight to their stomachs. It has probably become a bit of a crutch if I really think about it. Cooking is what I do if I'm bored, if I want to impress someone, if I'm upset.

The night ended up being very fun, with friendly people, and plenty of good food besides my chips and the mango salsa and guacamole I whipped up to go along with it all. I like to think that I earned entry into the social atmosphere by making those chips, but I think the reality is that having a dish I knew I'd made from scratch and that tasted great probably just made me feel more comfortable, like a puppy showing off his tricks to impress a stranger. So here's some recipes for everyone who uses cooking for anything other than just food. I think you'll enjoy the tortilla chip experience.

Tortillas came into my diet when my older sister Jessie started dating Eric who is originally from Costa Rica. Homemade corn tortillas are so simple and so much better than tortillas from a bag you won't believe it. Serve them with a breakfast of eggs or a dinner of rice and beans, or go ahead...make some nachos!

Homemade Corn Tortillas
(recipe makes about 12 tortillas)
2 cups Maseca or other corn flour (can be found at any Mexican grocery and most supermarkets)

2 cups water
1 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl and mix with your hands (I promise it's easier this way). Heat up an ungreased frying pan to high heat. Now take a plastic grocery bad or a piece of plastic wrap about that size and place a ball of dough about half the size of your fist inside the bag on a flat surface. Now's the fun part! Each tortilla can either be patted down by hand or rolled with a rolling pin. I recommend using my tool of choice which is just a glass jar like a pickle jar or wine bottle, but that's mostly because I don't own a rolling pin. Remove the flattened tortilla gingerly from inside the plastic bag and place it in the now heated pan. You should cook each tortilla for about 15-30 seconds on each side.

Homemade Tortilla Chips
12 homemade tortillas (see recipe above)
1 cup olive oil for frying

Leave that tortilla pan on and add a cup of olive oil. Slice your tortillas up into chips and place them in the pan. Do not crowd them; you might have to do them in batches depending on your pan size. Use a pair of tongs to flip them once they are lightly browned on one side. Once cooked on both sides, transfer them to a plate covered in newspaper or paper towels to soak up any dripping oil. Eat hot, or let cool before you enjoy them.

Mango Salsa
1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper
1 ripe mango
4 med tomatoes, or 1-15 ounce can of tomatoes (I like to use the ones with green chiles in them for some spice)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lime (optional)

Finely mince all veggies and then sprinkle with sugar, salt, olive oil, and lime juice. Serve with chips!

Essence of Avocado Guacomole
(I love avocados. I mean LOVE. Which is why I often find guacamole to be too much spice, not enough avocado flavor. Here's how I make guac instead)
2-3 ripe avocados 
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt (pref. sea salt)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes


Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and then savor that quality avocado flavor. Ain't nothing better!

The Mafe Factor is born!

 I guess I knew picking a blog name would be pretty hard, but it surprised me nonetheless that I spent about a week making this decision. I guess it's a little like naming a child; you realize that, while your decision may not truly be final and that there are legal recourses one can take to change a name, it is not socially acceptable to flip flop about name decisions. There are, of course, those that do choose to change their mind about these things, but I believe one generally must fall into the category of either a) a disgraced business or b) famous person.

Adjou and a particularly spectacular platter she created

So what is Mafe? Mafe is a Senegalese peanut butter stew that is made with root vegetables and tomatoes and served on top of cous cous or white rice on a large communal platter that everyone eats off of together with their hands. I chose Mafe as my namesake because it is my favorite Senegalese dish to make, and because overall I loved the food experience of eating off of a communal plate, something we would frown upon in the US because of our accute germaphobia. But hey, when in Rome I hope we all find it in ourselves to acquire a few Roman germs.

The Mafe Factor has a second source of origin in another great food adventure I once had. There is a cafe in Ithaca, New York called the Mate Factor which is run by a religious cult called the Twelve Tribes who live in a large communal house in downtown Ithaca, and run both the cafe as well as a farm where they grew most of their produce. They have open Sabbath dinners on Fridays at which they invite the entire community to join them, but very few Ithacans take part except the homeless. However, I convinced my college roommate to tag along with me and we attended one Friday Sabbath dinner at that big house on 3rd Street. While the experience was in many ways socially discomforting, the food was incredible, the people were well-meaning and kind, and the dancing afterwards was surprisingly fun. When I moved to Colorado I discovered that the Twelve Tribes had another Mate Factor in Manitou Springs, and just seeing the sign brought back such crisp memories of fresh greens and thick hearty bread, that it was all I could do not to drool on the sidewalk.

Aminata, Mina, and I enjoy our mafe

And so, let the Mafe Factor be defined as the secret ingredient that the story of a dish adds to the actual taste of the food. It's the spice of memory. In recognition of these food adventures of the past, I will begin with a recipe for Senegalese mafe the way my host sister Adjou taught me to make it. I implore you to make this a food adventure for yourself. Take out that platter you sometime put deviled eggs or chopped veggies on when you have parties. Cover it with white rice or cous cous and then pour your stew into the center. Invite your bravest and most adventurous friends over for dinner, and "Lekka" Senegalese style.

Mafe with Beef, Lamb, or Vegetarian (don't tell my host family I'm allowing this)
3 tbsp oil (olive oil or vegetable)
1/2 pound chopped beef, lamb, or halved mushrooms
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 med potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
5 brussel sprouts, quartered
(Other vegetables to add or substitute for those listed: green beans, cassava root, cabbage, eggplant)
1 med onion minced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 green pepper, minced (optional)
salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
1 28 ounce can diced or pureed tomatoes or 4 fresh tomatoes, pureed
14 ounces of water (fill up tomato can halway again, or use about 2 cups)
1/2  cup good natural peanut butter (no more than 2 ingredients)


Sautee meat or mushrooms in oil until browned (about 5 minutes), add all root vegetables and brussel sprouts or cabbage and cook for another 10 minutes. Take the minced onion, garlic and green pepper and mix them together. If you can, it is good to mash them, but I generally just mince them all at once to get a good mix. Add these to the pot along with the salt, peppers, tomatoes, water, and peanut butter. Mix well and bring to a boil. Once at a rolling boil, turn down to low and then cook until veggies are soft.


Serve platter style or in individual bowls with rice or cous cous.
Lekka bu bakk samay xarits! (Eat well my friends)