http://www.care2.com/greenliving/homemade-fritos.html
Homemade Fritos
I noticed that January 29th is National Corn Chip day, and it got me thinking about the history of corn chips. In poking around, I found a fascinating story called The Birth of the Frito on NPR. Yes, the history of Fritos–fascinating! To make a long story short, a 1930s corn-loving confectionery owner in Texas, Charles Elmer Doolin, was looking for a savory snack to serve when he came across a man making a beach food staple from Mexico called fritos, “little fried things.” He perfected the recipe for the extruded and fried corn chips that were made out of masa and began selling them in little bags. Doolin was an innovator and soon started mass-producing the chips and eventually went national.
The fascinating part is that Doolin, essentially the founder of convenience snack food, was a close follower of Dr. Herbert Shelton–a prominent American health educator, pacifist, vegetarian, and advocate of raw-foodism and fasting cures. The father of Fritos ate no meat, no fat, and no salt–he was a hard-core health food fanatic! Doolin envisioned Fritos as a side dish–a handful with a bowl of soup or salad. They are certainly not the worst offenders in the snack food category–they are vegan, in fact, and are comprised of whole corn, corn oil and salt. But I just can’t imagine what Doolin would think to see a Big Grab bag of Fritos washed down with a 64-ounce Super Big Gulp of soda!
So, in honor of C.E. Doolin and National Corn Chip Day–and maybe for those of you looking to make some homemade Frito Pie for Super Bowl Sunday–here is a recipe for a homemade version of Fritos.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup organic, non-GMO yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon olive oil
1. Preheat oven to 450F degrees.
2. Combine cornmeal and salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and stir, add olive oil, and stir until well blended.
3. Drop mixture by heaping teaspoonfuls onto a well-greased baking sheet and press each one with the bottom of a glass. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Makes approximately 3 dozen chips.
More from Melissa Breyer (497 articles available)
related stories
-
(10 comments)
-
(11 comments)
-
(5 comments)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
20 comments
add your comment »Smaller = better chips on this recipe. They come out crispy, but watch them. The smaller the chip, the less cooking time. My chips only cooked for about 5 minutes. Oh and I sprayed the sheet with non-stick spray.
It's hard to keep the little buggers from sticking. I mixed chili powder in my chips and then sprinkled it on top. YUMMY!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Smaller = better chips on this recipe. They come out crispy, but watch them. The smaller the chip, the less cooking time. My chips only cooked for about 5 minutes. Oh and I sprayed the sheet with non-stick spray.
It's hard to keep the little buggers from sticking. I mixed chili powder in my chips and then sprinkled it on top. YUMMY!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I've tried this recipe a couple of times and still have not found the "right" combination. I have figured that it needs to 1:1 water to cornmeal, however the temp of 450 is just too high. I have yet to find any way to flatten them other than using my finger (anything else just sticks). The best thing I have done is to drop about 1/2 a teaspoon of mixture onto the cookie sheet and press it thin with my finger. Keep an eye on them as they cook as they do burn rather easily. I'll keep trying and post if I find my optimal recipe. Thanks for the recipe though, it's been a great starting point.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Hi Lia De Ruiter,
Yes, Mel changed the amount of water in the ingredient list, but forgot to change it in the directions. I'm not so sure just paprika would be flavorful, maybe it would add some spice, but I would be more tempted to try a blend of spices to get differnet results. Maybe something like "taco seasoning" or a powdered salad seasoning packet, as in ranch dressing mix. But use very sparingly, as these could overwhelm it fairly quick.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Oh dear, I just found out I should have read the comments before trying the recipe... I used 1 3/4 cup of water(the ingredients say only 3/4 cup, but in the recipe first 1 cup is mentioned, then 3/4 cup), then added a lot of cornmeal to make it sort of like a dough. I baked it for about 25 minutes (my oven doesn't function very well and doesn't stick to the temperature). Still it all came out quite rubbery. I needed the oven for my dinner, so after dinner I'll chuck the fritos in the oven again to see if they can become a bit crispy...
I'll let you know.
I just wondered: would it be an idea to add spicy paprika to the cornmeal to make them a bit spicy?
Thanks anyway for the recipe.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I actually used a double recipe and didn't read through the whole set of instructions, so used 1 cup of cornmeal to 1 1/2 cups of boiling water and it was too thin until I stuck it in the microwave for 2 minutes, so it thickened up. They kept sticking to my flattening implement, so I used a spoon dipped in water and they came out partially chewy and partially crispy, but good under a bowl of chili with cheese and red onions. I imagine they would have been more uniform and crispy if I used the bottom of a glass dipped in water. I'll try them again that way. But it would be nice to have the boiling water part cleared up in the instructions, I'll read them through next time, I promise!
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I agree the water part is still confusing - while the ingredients list was corrected from 1 3/4 to just 3/4, the actual instructions still reference 1 cup plus 3/4 cup.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
I am still confused about the amount of water needed.
We use corn tortillas all the time to make homemade tortilla chips; cut into quarters and fry Not fat free, but quite yummy.
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Sorry about the typo--it should only be 3/4 cup water, which I have corrected above. (But you are all so smart, you already figured that out!)
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Yes, I have to agree with everyone else here. Following the given recipe made something far too thin to even be able to drop onto a baking sheet. I ended up adding almost 1 full cup more of cornmeal. Using a teaspoon I made them fairly thin, but at 10 minutes in a 450 degree oven the edges started burning. They tasted okay dipped in my homemade hummus, but I will experiment some more to find a better way. Any ideas?
send green star
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: