Culinary Adventures with Camilla

I love the idea behind the Crazy Ingredient Challenge (CIC). In the CIC, we are assigned two ingredients to cook and create. This month, Kelly of  Passion Kneaded   is hosting. So, here goes... July's Crazy In gredient Challenge = peaches and corn Masa harina  is the traditional Mexican flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and other cornmeal-based dishes. Literally translated from Spanish, it means "dough flour," because the flour is made from dried masa . To make masa harina , maize (or field corn) is dried and then treated in a solution of lime and water. It's then ground to make flour. Ingredients makes 16 cakes Arepas 2 C  masa harina 1 C hot water 1 C hot chicken stock 4 T butter, softened 2 egg yolks 1 C crumbled  queso fresco butter or oil for cooking the arepas crema Mexicana  or sour cream, for garnish Peach  Pico de Gallo 3 donut peaches, chopped (approximately 1 C) 1 tomato, chopped (...

Inspired by my batch of  Nasturium  queso fresco , I decided to make arepas for dinner tonight. Many thanks to my friend Shiho for the blossoms! They are lovely and tasty. Ingredients  makes 12 to 14 cakes 2 C  masa harina 1 C hot water 1 C hot chicken stock 4 T butter, softened 2 egg yolk 1 C crumbled  Nasturium  queso fresco butter or oil for cooking the arepas fresh herbs, for garnish crema Mexicana  or sour cream, for garnish fresh herbs, for garnish (I used carrot top greens) Procedure Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stock. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir the egg yolk and butter into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes. Separate the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Make an impression in the ball with your thumb. Spoon some queso fresco into the hollow. Then press the dough togethe...

When I started planning my post-Christmas Columbian feast, arepas kept coming up in my search. I know this is inaccurate, but think of them as thick, stuffed tortillas; they are more like corn cakes, I suppose. We liked them so much, I've already made them again. In any case, I started with R's Handmade Corn Tortillas and went from there. We stuffed ours with queso fresco and topped them with crumbled morcilla , blood sausage. I had just picked some up from Boccalone in the Ferry Building. Ingredients makes 16 cakes 2 C masa harina 1 C hot water 1 C hot chicken stock 4 T butter, softened 2 egg yolk 1 C crumbled queso fresco butter or oil for cooking the arepas cooked blood sausage, crumbled, for serving fresh cilantro, for garnish crema Mexicana or sour cream, for garnish Procedure Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stock. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir the egg yolk and butter ...