cornmeal

MoleVerde Sweetcorn Cornbread

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Hello Friends, Amy here with summer sweet corn and tomatoes! I canned some tomatoes and froze some corn kernels for later.

I started with my favorite cornbread recipe. When I make Mano Y Metate mole powders I use masa harina, made from corn that has been treated with lime (as in limestone, not the citrus) and coarsely ground to make tamales. It is too coarsely ground to make mole but it is the only one I can get non-GMO in small quantities. I only need a couple 50 pound bags a year, not a pallet of 50 pound bags at once! So I sift it for the mole powders, leaving me with surplus of very coarse meal that certainly has a higher portion of the germ and bran. That makes it more nutritious but not at all starchy. For cornbread, I use three fourths cup of this coarse meal and one quarter cup wheat flour, even though the original recipe does not call for any wheat.

In lieu of yogurt or buttermilk, I used one and a half cups fresh milk with a one and a half tablespoons cider vinegar. Also a tablespoon mesquite honey from Sleeping Frog Farm, an egg, a quarter teaspoon each of salt and baking soda.

I like crust. So I start by preheating an eight inch skillet (or any baking pan, it does not have to be cast iron to be improved by preheating) at 425 degrees. When it is to temperature, I let 2 tablespoons oil or lard melt in the pan. Butter works too but it does get very toasty. My friend rendered this lard from a local pig.

For the best crust, I put the oiled pan back in the very hot oven. When the oil is to temperature, I pour the batter in the pan and it immediately bubbles and puffs!

Tucson CSA has not shared any green chile, yet, but hopefully it will very soon. Inspired by Mole Dulce dry sprinkled on brownies, I sprinkled the top of the cornbread with Mole Verde powder.

Also, fresh tomato slices, for color. It’s been a good year for tomatoes at Crooked Sky Farms, lots of heirlooms and Romas.

After 20 something minutes in the oven, it was golden. No need for a toothpick test here! Spicy crusty exterior and creamy sweet corn studded interior.

Breakfast outside on a steamy desert morning, watching the plants in the yard grow explosively with the summer rains.

Monica’s Fried Green Tomatoes

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Many of us are Southwest at heart but arrived here from other parts of the country, or even the world. Personally, I (Monica King) dug my feet into the caliche twenty-five years ago. I was born in the south and enjoyed life as a migratory beekeeper’s daughter, thus I have been lucky to enjoy cuisine from many areas with different ethnic backgrounds. Fried green tomatoes has been one of my go-to southern favorites – or so I thought.

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I had friends visiting from Missouri, and as I started to make some fried green tomatoes they said, “No way can you out do Missouri Fried Green Tomatoes! We invented them!” I grabbed my heart! What?! No – this is a Southern dish! Could I have been wrong all these years?

History of Origin

Digging into the past is what I do (more about the Prehistoric Collector here). The upshot is that – sadly, yes – fried green tomatoes are NOT Southern! Apparently the first recipes for fried green tomatoes are in 19th century Northeastern and Midwestern cookbooks! The 1877 Buckeye Cookbook and the 1873 Presbyterian Cookbook. A recipe is also found in the 1919 International Jewish Cookbook. The first southern mention was dug up in a 1944 Alabama newspaper! Of course, the movie Fried Green Tomatoes was famous for them at the Whistle Stop Cafe but there is no documentation of this dish originating in the South.

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Variations on a Theme

I sampled fried green tomatoes from many families, including Mom’s version, and from cookbooks. Whenever I would taste something different, I’d get excited, “Oh! You used that in there!” Over time my recipe has turned into a hodge podge of this and that, and it may even change in the future. Perhaps you have your own twist to suggest? (Please share your comments!)

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I found that the Pennsylvania Dutch used flour, cornmeal is a more recent Southern twist, and using breadcrumbs was an idea from my mom. All I can tell you with certainly is that making any fried green tomatos recipe is – in my opinion – one of the best and easiest ways of using up green tomatoes picked when freezing temperatures hit…….but then I am also one that cannot resist the first green tomato off a new years planting. I guess I just love fried green tomatoes that much.

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Try Some!

If you have never tried them, I encourage you to do so. I cheated with this version and used Italian seasoned bread crumbs but add a few other ingredients as I like the heat of the red pepper flakes merging with the twang of the green tomato. The cornmeal gives them a lovely crunch. My husband unfortunately does not share my love for the dish – so I tend to make small batches – just for myself to savor as a snack.

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Fried Green Tomatoes

1/3 cup yellow or blue cornmeal
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
egg
oil for frying

Mix all the dry ingredients together in one bowl, set aside. In a separate bowl, scramble the egg (or eggs depending on how many tomatoes you are using), set aside.  Slice the tomatoes into 1/4 inch thicknesses. Heat enough oil to coat a frying pan, I use avocado oil.  Dip each tomato slice first in egg, then in the dry ingredients, coating completely.  Then add to the hot oil. Turn when golden then drain on paper towels when done.

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