Last Christmas I metioned
kenuche to you. Here's a basic recipe for anyone who might want to give
it a try. This is a traditional Native American recipe, and most often
served at gatherings and celebrations. It does take some work, but is
very much worth the effort.
Allow 2 days to make
kenuche. This recipe makes 20 servings.
Ingredients: 2 lbs of
full-grain dry white hominy. Use the kind in a bag like dried beans, not
the kind in a can or box.
Enough unshelled hickory
nuts to completely fill a 2-lb sack.
1. Boil hominy in
unsalted water till soft. Simmer approximately all day and leave
standing overnight.
2. Prepare hickory nuts.
Put into a deep bowl and pound till shells can be picket out of
nutmeats. The high, deep wooden bowls traditionally used will waste less
nut juice, but is can be done in a deep mixing bowl a few nuts at a
time. Mold damp nutmeats into tomato-sized balls. They may not stick
together well but this will not ruin the kenuche. Nut-balls can be
wrapped and frozen for future use.
3. Line a colander with
muslin cloth and place it over a deep bowl. Gradually place nut-balls
into colander and run very hot water over them, mashing down to extract
the flavor. Set aside the juice. The mush can be set aside for use in
bread or hot cereal as a filler or flavoring.
4. Combine nut liquid and
hominy and simmer together for a few hours so that flavors are
thoroughly blended. Do not boil hard. Sugar, or better yet, honey can be
added toward the end of cooking if everyone prefers sweet kenuche. If
maple syrup is used, use sparingly so that it doesn't overpower the
flavor of the kenuche. Some may prefer it salted.
5. Serve as thick soup
with either sugar, honey, or salt. Finished kenuche can be frozen for
future use, but do not keep longer than overnight in a refrigerator.
If anyone tries this, let
me know how they liked it. It is hearty and filling winter fare.
