Pastel do Choclo

This casserole is wonderful and tasting.

Pastel de Choclo

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb ground beef

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup beef stock

1 tbsp flour

1 lb frozen corn

1/4 cup cornmeal

1-2 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup milk

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

2-3 tbsp sugar

Cooking:

Preheat oven to 375.

Heat oil in saucepan, add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and sautee for 2 minutes. Add ground beef, paparika, cumin oregano, salt and pepper and sautee 6-8 minutes, breaking up the beef as you go.

Pour stock over mixture and sprinkle flour and simmer for another 6-8 minutes.Remove fromh eat and set aside.

Put cornmeal, corn, and cornstarch in a food processor or blender and puree. Add milk only a little at a time, stopping when it reaches a batter-like consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter and add the corn puree and cook, stirring constantly, about 5-8 minutes.

In a casserole dish, spread the beef mixture. Spread corn puree mixture over the beef mixture. Sprinkle sugar over mixture.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Chapter 12 : Native American

When the idea of trying to cook Native American food came up, at first it sounded lunatic. Is there enough Native American cuisine to make? Would it be any good?

The answers seem to be yes and yes, although we cooked it around Thanksgiving so I hadn't time to try out more than a few dishes. Of course, figuring out what could be an "authentic" Native American recipe is difficult. After all, moden Native American recipes are often shadows of European recipes, since European cooking methods assuredly have been adopted with time, along with many European ingredients.

But then again, in this age the chilli pepper, discovered in use by the Aztecs, has spread across the globe as far as Korea, would it not be fair to assume Indian culinary tradition should have adopted from its contact with Europe?

Still, some recipes were so far European in origin as not to seem worth trying, but that didn't leave me with too few. I aimed for a few that used very American ingredients in ways we rarely do.

Firstly, there's Sunflower Bannock. Now, What is

a "Bannock" you might ask. Well, it's an old

English and Scottish term for a round loaf of bread. A piece of a bannock would be a "scone".

Sunflower Bannock

Prep Time: Negligible

Cooing Time: 2 hours

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cup sunflower seeds

3 1/4 cup water

2 1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp corn flour

2/3 cup oil

Cooking:

In a large pot, put the water, sunflower seeds, and salt and cook for 1 1/2 hours.

Make a paste by crushing the seeds (or putting them through a food processor). Add the corn flour slowly, thickening the paste.

Cool a little, and make into small flat pancakes with your hands, and then fry in oil, until both sides are brown.