Learn how to make this staple dish, which is part of nearly every meal in a Cherokee home.
Cherokee Bean Bread is a staple of the diet and present at every meal. It is traditional to wrap the breads in corn leaves, but for convenience, corn husks are used in this recipe. Chef Nico notes that this is a pre-contact traditional recipe, put together in the manner of making tamales. Makes roughly 15 breads.
Ingredients
- Steamer and basket
- 20-25 corn husks. Look for large sized husks. You may need to use two husks to completely wrap the bread if the husks are small
- 4 to 4 ½ cups of masa harina
- 2 cups cooked brown beans
- 2 ½ cups of warm bean broth or water
- 1 Tablespoon rendered fat for flavor (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- Salt to taste
Directions
- Cook beans and cool. Reserve cooking liquid for making dough for bean bread.
- While you are making and shaping the dough, fill a large steamer pot (at least 7 to 8 quarts) about three-quarters of the way full of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Mix salt, baking powder and masa harina in the large bowl.
- Next mix beans with masa harina. Combine well.
- Meanwhile, add 2 ½ cups bean broth to the bowl with masa harina, along with the rendered fat if using. Mix well with your hands until everything well incorporated.
- Using your hands, scoop roughly a third of a cup portion of the lukewarm dough. Shape the dough into a ball and flatten slightly into ovals about 3” long, as Chef Nico demonstrates in the video.
- Wrap each bread in a corn husk, folding the husk around it on all sides to completely enclose it. If the husks won't completely enclose the bread, use two. Place seam side down in the steamer basket. Repeat with the remaining breads, stacking them on top of one another.
- Carefully place the breads into the pot of boiling water. Allow the water to come back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Simmer the breads for about 45 minutes. Check for doneness by removing a bread from the water and carefully pulling back the husk; if the husk pulls away from the bread easily, it's done. If the husk sticks to the bread, it needs a little more time.
- When the breads are cooked, remove from steamer bath, drain and cool a bit before serving.
- Store breads, wrapped individually in corn husks (to prevent them from sticking together), in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to a week
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