Cool! I learned a new word.

Oh, that's fab!!

How fun to get to grow their own corn.

So if you're going that far, maybe you want to go full on? At that age, my Mexican friend took the corn they grew down to the river, and washed it against a metate (grinding stone) until it was white. Though I'm sure it didn't start red. :) I dare say the FP is more efficient, and her happy memories are probably more about meeting up with the neighbor girls there than the chores. :)

That is fantastic!

My favorite use for fresh masa (which I buy at markets like Cárdenas) is tamales. I'll bet the masa they made would be great in tamales. The best ones I make are make with duck fat instead of lard, but I love them with lard also.

Another good use is in fried quesadillas, which look like empanadas, which I cook in a wok. You can pan sauté them in minimal oil instead, however, but they do benefit from some oil. You can add any leftover cooked vegetables you to the filling, but my favorite is huitlacoche, which I buy in a jar. If you are growing corn, you might have some of this growing naturally.

Very impressive to go through nixtamalization - something I've never done.

Thanks for sharing this intersting process.

Is it the grain thickness or the press that is making them 'thick' ?. My press is odd so i add a few layers of card stock. Some spin and press again to get thinner. My press has a bad odd tall hinge, on the hinge side, so i add the extra layers to get thinner.---and a spin and press again. BS badly made press.

If your corn grain is too course, your blender might get it a bit finner than a cuisinart. ?

No experience of the full process....just guessing.

Sleevendog, it's the tortilla press. That's a good idea with the cardboard, I was thinking of just taking the tortilla from the press and using a rolling pin to make it a bit thinner, but your way would probably work better.

Dcarch, no $1,000 restaurants for me, star or no star, LOL. Of course, you know that.

Lars, I think tamales would be good, I also have some Oaxacan Green corn which I understand is traditional for Oaxacan green tamales. The girls would probably like the fried quesadillas better, though. I do occasionally have some corn smut, but never thought of saving it or using it for anything. I know it's a fungus, and we eat mushrooms, so it's not a great leap from foraged mushrooms to huitlacoche. I seldom have a problem with it in the garden, perhaps my growing season is too short, or maybe it's more prevalent on the grinding corns than on sweet corn. I'll have to watch for it now, though.

Plllog, no washing in the river, LOL, too much pollution! I was going to grind the corn with the molcajete, but time was running out, so maybe next time. The corn was actually grown for grinding, to be used in cornbread and hoe cakes but the neighbor from the B&B was given a tortilla press and she said she knew she'd never use it so she gave it to the girls. And so, we needed masa.

Fun2B, it was a new word for me too, expand my vocabulary along with my cooking experiences!

Lisa, it was interesting and fun for the girls. I bake my own bread, why not tortillas? Plus, those tortilla chips were really good, although thick.

Annie

wow, new term for me too, and very interesting process! Your corn was beautiful and I'll bet they were deliciousl I bought a tortilla press ages ago, and have never used it because I've never found masa available for sale locally. Now I can see why.

PM you can buy masa harina and make your own masa, it's kind of like the Bisquick of tortillas and a lot less work than my way!

Annie

That’s the coolest cooking project! She looks very happy. I like the word “nixtamalization” and think it sounds like realizing something now that you were about to have thought of next time.

Congratulations on making it through the entire process! Madison looks like she is really enjoying those chips. We have grown flour corn the past two seasons and I don't know if it's just psychological but the masa tastes so amazing when you make it yourself! My 14-year old helped turn the grinder (although not the entire process, I passed it through twice to try and get it finer, and the grinder tends to clog up a little). I'm considering asking for a fancy machine grain grinder for my next birthday...

We do the nixtamalization overnight (boil the corn in the evening, wash and grind the masa the next day). I too am working on getting the flour a little finer in order to get thinner more flexible tortillas. Try making tamales, where you don't have to worry about the ability to press it thin. @Lars I will have to try those with duck fat next year! Rick Bayless says that you have to get the right kind of lard for the best taste - from a butcher not the plain white blocks from the supermarket shelf. But I've never gone to those lengths...

Nixtamalization IS a cool word, almost as long to say it as to do it! (grin) I did have to go back to the original post to correct the spelling, that transposing of letters has been a lifelong habit of mine, my girls tease me that I'm dyslexic. I switch letters and every time I try to assemble something I put it together exactly backwards and then have to fix it . Every. Single. Time. (sigh)

John, she was a very happy girl, she got tortilla chips as a snack and that can't be a bad thing. I think it's good to remember how much goes into producing foods like tortillas or bread and the girls love to play in the kitchen with me, so it's a double bonus.

Gardengirl, I have a Jupiter grain mill but was kind of apprehensive about putting the softened corn in there, it says it's a "dry" grain mill. I didn't know how big a mess it might make or what it would do to the machine. So, it was the food processor that got pressed into duty and it worked, but I think it needed to be ground more finely. If I used it more I'd have a bigger/better grain mill, but I only grind wheat for bread and corn for cornbread and hoecakes. Well, and now for tortillas.

I would definitely soak overnight for the nixtamalization, if I'd only read the directions first and been prepared. Next time...

Annie