A friend asked me for ideas for using masa, or corn flour, so I looked up Rick Bayless’ “Mexican Kitchen” which is my most-used Mexican cookbook, full of fantastic flavour and recipes.

He has a recipe for “Crusty baked masa boats”.Well mine didn’t turn into boats as I cooked them a bit too long in the first step and my dough was probably a little dry. Anyway here’s the recipe.

Combine the following in a large bowl:

1 cup fresh masa
2 tbsp lard or vegetable shortening
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup crumbled feta or parmesan cheese
1 egg yolk
1 tsp baking powder

Mix together thoroughly, adding a little water as needed to make a soft but not sticky biscuit dough. (I mixed by hand but next time I’d use a food processor as I think I could incorporate the water better to get a smoother dough.)

Form into 8 discs  about 7.5 cm or 3 inches across. Bake on baking paper at 180C in the upper third of the oven for 15 mins or until they are just beginning to brown.

At this point you’re meant to take them out of the oven, let them cool slightly and turn up the edges to make little boats. My a bit too hard and dry to do this.

Bayless then tops his with poblano rajas, more cheddar and fried chorizo meat (sausage casing removed) or salsa.

I topped mine with a mixture of cheddar, spicy smoked chicken, roast capsicum, cheddar and sliced spring onion and put them back into the oven for 10 mins.

Then I topped them with sour cream, coriander and a squeeze of lime juice. I’ll add some chilli kick next time.

Bayless serves them on a salad of sliced lettuce and radish anda little cider vinegar.

We each had three as our main meal. You could easily make them half the size as party finger food and top them with whatever you like. The base has a yummy crumbly cheesy texture.

A simple tasty way to use up some masa!