In Praise Of Hominy

Somewhere along the way in life, I acquired and retained a love of hominy.  Not "grits," though those are good too, with enough butter and pepper... but the whole hominy kernels.  There's nothing trendy about this food - mostly, it's acquired in a can, but even in rare cases where you might find it "fresh" that's a relative term, since it's produced by soaking dried corn in a lye preparation.  Surprisingly, though, that soaking actually makes the corn more nourishing in certain ways.  For example, it modifies the B vitamins into a form that's more easily absorbed by our digestive systems.

You can eat hominy by itself (heat with a generous blob of melted butter, plenty of pepper, and salt).  But my wife is not as big a hominy fan as I am, so I've experimented with ways to prepare it to make it a little more interesting.  I've found it can be used in almost any kind of recipe in place of rice, pasta, or even potatoes.  And it works out great in casseroles.  Here's one simple preparation:

Hominy w/Green Pepper and Onion

1-2 T oil (bacon grease, butter, margarine or veg oil)

1 green pepper

1 medium onion

1 clove garlic

1 can hominy

Chop onion and sauté in the fat until soft.  Add green pepper and sauté until softened.  Dice the garlic fine, and add with the hominy to the pan.  Sauté until warm.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Experiment with seasonings if you like – cumin, oregano, or some hot pepper -- to taste. 

Variation: put the mixture in a casserole, grate some cheddar cheese over it, and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

A note about recipes on this site:  Unless otherwise noted, anything you find here is just something I threw together, and that seemed to work -- nothing has been consciously lifted from anybody's cookbook.  They may not always be terribly original but what originality there is, is probably mine.

Comments

[sanders watkins]

Hominy is an interesting subject. I remember stirring hominy in a large black pot filled with lye over an open fire in our backyard when I was a little kid. I doubt if many of your readers can say the same. Memories from growing up in Mississippi. Sanders