Recipe: Nokake (Native American Blue Corn Cakes)

I love nokake (no-kah-kay). Perhaps it is because they are so base, simple and sustaining. It could be that they kind of remind me of the elven bread called "lembas" that sustained Frodo and Sam on their way to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, (Geek check!). I do know that they are delicious.

The recipes for corn cakes predate the arrival of the Europeans on the American continent. There are many different recipes that include all manner of ingredients including dill, bacon bits, bear grease and even wood ashes (for real good chemical and nutritional reasons). They were an important food stuff for the Native Americans and influenced the cooking of the colonists and American food today. Cornbread, corn pone, corn sticks, hoe cakes, johnny cakes and a host of other corn meal breads find their origin in nokake.

This recipe is based on one published by Wampanoag Indian chef Sherry Pocknett. Sherry runs a catering business and also operates a the "Sly Fox's Den", a Native American foods concession stand she operates at many pow wows including the Pequot Nation's annual "Schemitzun". I've made some changes to her recipe to suit my personal taste, but the heart of it is hers.

I use nokake as a platform for several "stack" types of recipes. One consists of the nokake, topped with roasted acorn squash and then a layer of smoked pork tenderloin. The resulting dish is DELICIOUS and one of my favorites. It, and others like it will find their way here as photo opportunities present themselves.

Nokake are versatile, you can alter their preparation between sweet or savory depending on your needs. This recipe leans towards savory.

Nokake (Corn cakes)

2 cups blue cornmeal (I prefer blue, you can use white or yellow)
1/2 cup flour
2 TBS honey
1 heaping TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups water
1 bunch scallions/green onions (green part only), chopped
1 cup fresh sweet corn kernels
Pepper, to taste
3 TBS peanut oil
Butter

In a large bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flour, honey, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly add the water until the resulting mixture is the consistency of hot oatmeal.

Stir in the scallions, sweet corn, and pepper.

On a large griddle or skillet, heat some of the oil on medium-high heat. Ladle enough batter into the skillet to make a 5-inch cake.

Cook for 6 to 8 minutes per side.

Brush the surface with butter.

Continue making corn cakes, adding more oil as needed.

Recipe: Nokake (Native American Corn Cakes) from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk
http://www.choponionsboilwater.com

Recipe: Msikwatash (Succotash)

Admit it, chances are the first time you ever heard of this dish, it was uttered by one Sylvester the Cat, right? "Sufferin' Succotash" was his catchphrase of choice whenever he was surprised or confounded by Tweetybird or that neighborhood bulldog. That's where I first heard it and I'm betting all my friends first heard it the same way. After a while you find out what succotash really is and well, if you're like my friends and me, you just think "um, yeah, okay, I don't think I want any of that." Well, we were wrong. Not only is this dish good, but it is surprisingly good. Everyone that tries it in my home really enjoys it.

Now for the etymology lesson. "Succotash" while a very popular side dish of the American south, is originally a Northeastern Native American dish. Called "msikwatash" by the Narragansett Indians of New England. It translates to "a whole ear of corn". The dish was very popular with the northern tribes and it was custom to keep some simmering all day long should anyone get hungry or unexpected guests arrive.

The original recipe called for beans, corn, salt and a good amount of bear grease or some other animal fat. The dish became popular with white trappers and traders who anglicized the name to "Succotash". They introduced it to the European colonists who substituted lard, bacon grease, butter or cream for the bear grease. It has since become a popular standard side dish in many places throughout the USA.

Try it, you'll like it.

Msikwatash (Succotash)

2 slices of bacon
1 TBS sweet butter
2 cups fresh corn kernels (from 3 to 4 ears)
10 ozs. to 1 lb. fresh or frozen baby lima beans
1 bunch scallions or green onions cut into 1/3-inch pieces (keep white and pale green parts separate from greens)
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Cook bacon in a sauce pan over moderate heat, flip frequently, until crisp. Remove bacon to a paper towel to cool.

Add butter to fat in the sauce pan and melt over moderate heat.

When butter has melted, add corn, lima beans, and white and pale green parts of scallions/green onions and cook, stirring frequently for 2 minutes.

Add cream, water, salt, and pepper, then simmer, partially covered, until vegetables are tender (10 to 15 minutes).

While the succotash simmers cut the bacon into small bits.

After the succotash has finished simmering, stir in bacon and scallion greens

Salt and pepper to taste, and serve to surprised family and guests.

Get your succotash on with some good barbecue or for turkey day!

Recipe: Msikwatash (Succotash) from Chop Onions, Boil Water by Henry Krauzyk