I had my husband purchase one 16 oz can of Hominy aka Pozole at the grocery store on Saturday... tonight is the night we are going to eat them for the first time. I do the meal planning and grocery list, my husband is the hunter, gatherer and brings the food home.
My husband and I see grocery stores so differently, he doesn't cook; so he only sees what is on the grocery list and no more. Me, I have been cooking, if only in my head since I discovered Julia Child on PBS when I was about 3 years old... I go through a grocery store and my brain accesses every recipe I ever knew made with each and every item I see. I am highly susceptible to impulse buying, so it's just more cost effective if the husband does the grocery shopping.
Hominy is dried maize (corn) that has been treated with an alkali solution, usually lye. An alkali is a soluble base with a pH greater than 7 for you Scientists out there.
The corrosive nature of the alkali removes the hull and germ of the corn which makes the grain puff up twice it's normal size. The process of soaking the maize and removing the hull and germ is called nixtamalization. Not only does this process preserve the corn it also has some added nutritional benefits. The preservation process converts some of the niacin and possibly other B vitamins into a form the body can more easily absorb. The process also improves the availability of amino acids and can actually supplement calcium needs if the hominy is lime treated.
Hominy can be dried, ground and made into grits. The grits can then be cooked to soften them to be used for cereals, soups, stews and casseroles. See, I told you we would get back around to grits.
Posole is a traditional Mexican soup that is made with hominy, which brings us to Day 1...
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