traditional foods for the holiday season

[HiDelight]

I made pozole this weekend and will make menudo and tamales by xmas for the family. Sometimes it gets sad because we are so far from our family and we dont get to do the whole mexican xmas feast. But it is way easier to clean and cook, now.

OMG I WANT TO COME OVER THOSE ARE MY TWO FAVORITES .SAVE ME SOME I AM ON MY WAY IT IS TOOO COLD HERE ...yes I am yelling with joy ..to me that is a Mexican feast ..my daughters are half Mexican and I feel it is my obligation to taste every bowl of menudo and each sumptuous bite of Posole on the planet before I die

tell me do you use fresh frozen hominy ..canned or dried? I love abosolutely the fresh frozen but can not find it here yet...soon though I bet because we have fantastic markets here that I keep begging to get me some!!!

oh man i cuold sure use a bowl of either one right now it is so freaking cold!!!

 

[obsessed]

I use the can, here. The hispanic population is relatively new here, mostly Post-Katrina. And so we don't have all our food, clothes, products yet!

Walmart doesn't even have the corn husks for tamales! So most of my stuff get mailed in from southern Cali.

 

[HiDelight]

I use the can, here. The hispanic population is relatively new here, mostly Post-Katrina. And so we don't have all our food, clothes, products yet!

Walmart doesn't even have the corn husks for tamales! So most of my stuff get mailed in from southern Cali.

oh the canned works! I love hominy any way I can get it! .. with lime and salt on it ..or butter ..or just out of my hand ..there is something just so wonderful about that corn on steroids!!!
we use it often as a side dish instead of rice noodles or mashed potatoes
I can get the dried here but it takes FOREVER to cook

very very comforting food

 

[obsessed]

When you want to get crazy take the can of hominy (or use fresh maze corn not the sweet stuff it is called elote durro) add a bit of butter, maynaise, parmasean cheese salt chile lime and viola.

do you get an elote guy who come around with cart? In LA they sell for a buck! But the few times I have been back elote durro is harder and harder to find on a cob. And the sweet stuff just doen't do the recipe any justice.

 

[Reinbeau]

I didn't even know they sold fresh frozen hominy, I buy the canned stuff, if I can find it - it's not easy to find up here in the frozen Northeast! I worked with a girl from Oklahoma and she couldn't believe what we ate around here that passed for 'Mexican' food. She said it was awful compared to what they could get back home!

 

[HiDelight]

OMG it is elote season we do not have the cart here but all the Mexican markets have them fresh warm in coolers right now my stomach is growling
and the home made corn tortillas are warm in the cooler next to the elotes ...ohhhhh those lovely coolers have so many yummy things inside ..Friday I am taking the chipmunk and going to get him his first elote!!!

Rein the fresh frozen is so freaking good I can not even tell you ..it still takes a bit too cook because it is just the corn soaked in the lime but the flavor is the best I have found

I get it in regular grocers in Santa fe or when I go to LA and pack it in my suitcase to bring home

 

[HiDelight]

LOL I was thinking of the fresh corn tamales they are called elotes ..but the elotes with the mayo and stuff yum we do that at home too ..my husband roasts the fresh corn on the grill!

I have to work must focus

 

[obsessed]

That is so funny Hid. My family visist like every 4-5 months and their suitcases are loaded with goodies for us with stuff that we can't get. We even keep a wardrobe of my MIL clothes here so she can just bring stuff and not clothes. I wonder what airport searcher people think of her......

 

[Hattie the Hen]

In the UK we have a lot of gammon ham at Christmas. It is usually boiled gently until virtually cooked then glazed in the oven & decorated with cloves stuck into the skin. But I have just been sent a recipe which I think would be wonderful as a standby -- Have a look:

http://www.luculliandelights.com/2009/12/saffron-breaded-ham-with-mustard-seed.html

You have to scroll down a bit! I think this could easily become a traditional Christmas dish.
Forgive me HiD for side-stepping your topic but I thought your DH might enjoy this, as I Know he loves ham!

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[ninnymary]

I make tamales for Christmas. My kids aren't really fond of them so I end up giving them away. Of course, I only give them to "special" people because they take so long to make.

Obsessed - I didn't know you are hispanic, I am too! Unfortunately, I only learned to make tamales from my abuelita. She never made pozole and I just love it for breakfast! I wish I knew how to make it.

I also make homemade tortillas all the time. This is sadly becoming a lost art. Even my children don't know how to make them. They don't seem to be interested in learning. Maybe some day?

Mary