Do you know about Criollo Corn?!
Answers: Can anyone here tell me where l can find criollo corn here in Dallas? l want to prepare some cuban tamales but l need the right type of corn for the recipe. Thank you for your help.
I am not sure where you could find criollo corn in Dallas, ask one of the local Cuban or Latin grocery stores. They may know. Most people I know just use masa harina.
Eastern Cuban cuisine forms the basis of criollo cooking (the term criollo stands for "creole"), which shares a great deal of recipes with other Caribbean cuisines, but has the distinctive difference of making almost no use of peppers. Other spices are however an important ingredient, the most dominant being garlic, cumin, onion, Cuban oregano and bay leaves.
Cuban tamales, although not exactly similar to its Mexican counterpart. Made with corn flour, shortening and pieces of pork meat, tamales are wrapped in corn leaves and tied, boiled in salted water and served in a number of different ways. Tamales en cazuela is almost the same recipe, although it does not require the lengthy process of packing the tamales in the corn leaves before cooking, but rather is directly cooked in the pan.
Tamal en Cazuela (Cuban Tamale in a Pot)
1 lb. ground pork meat
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion chopped
1 green pepper chopped
olive oil for frying
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup red wine
2 cups ground fresh corn (may substitute frozen)
one cup masa harina
3 cups water
Salt & pepper to taste
Juice of one lemon
METHOD:
Fry the pork in a little olive oil. Add onion and green pepper and continue frying at low heat until the onions are soft. Add garlic, tomato sauce and wine.
Slice the corn kernels off of the cob (or use frozen corn). Grind the corn in a food processor until you get a coarse mixture. Remove from the processor and blend in one cup masa harina to the ground corn. Add 3 cups water to the corn mixture and blend well. Add this mixture to the meat and tomato sauce mixture in the pot. Blend in juice of one lemon.
Cook on the stove top, stirring occasionally. The finished product should be thick and not runny. Approximately one hour. Salt and pepper to taste.
Note: If you have leftover roasted pork, just shred it and use that instead of the ground pork.
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