Friday, September 29, 2006

Tamale Cakes

I haven't eaten polenta much my lifetime, but I like it. This recipe is basically polenta that has been cooled and then cut into rounds and lightly battered and fried. I thought it was quite good, if you like polenta. The family wasn't to impressed though, lol!

The recipe was for the whole meal, which included the corn cakes, topped with Pico de Gallo and Carnitas (meat). I could tell that the meat was not going to be good. I made a little just to prove myself right. It was more like a sweet barbeque sauce flavor, which just didn't work with the simple flavors of the corn cakes and Pico de Gallo. Because I knew we wouldn't be eating the meat, I made the Pico de Gallo heartier by adding some black beans. I also added cucumber because I couldn't think of a good reason not to.

This recipe came from the Aug 2006 issue of Cuisine at Home.




Tamale Corn Cakes


Makes 10-12 corn cakes; Total time: 1 hour + chilling


For the corn cakes:
3 cups simmering water
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1/3 cup masa harina
3 cups fresh corn kernels (I used frozen extra sweet corn)
1 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
salt to taste
For the batter:
2 eggs, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Fry in:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Top with:
Pico de Gallo
Goat Cheese

Lightly coat a 9x13" baking dish with nonstick spray
Whisk cornmeal gradually into simmering water, then whisk in the masa harina. Stir in the corn and cook until mixture is thick and smooth, about 5 minutes. Off heat, add Parmesan, cayenne, and salt. Spread mixture into prepared dish and chill for 1 hour. When firm, cut into cakes. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
Dip cakes into the egg mixture, then dust with flour. Fry in oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat, browning both sides. Transfer cakes to a paper towel-lined plate or baking sheet; keep warm int the oven.
Serve warm cakes with Pico de Gallo and goat cheese.

Pico de Gallo

1 cup black beans
1/2 cucumber
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

We had some avocado that would have been wonderful with this, but I completely forgot to use it!

2 comments:

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Forget AVACADO? That is like, blasphmey or something. lol... Sounds good though! I have been thinking about making some with all this cilantro and tomatos I have around here. Yum!

Val

Laurie said...

I know, I know. I couldn't believe I forgot it! Because I didn't use it, I had enough to make some guacamole the next day. Yum! I'll be posting about it later.

When I made this, I found that I could batter all the little rounds at once at let them sit on a rack (like you would cool cookies or a cake on). Then, when its time to fry them, they are all ready to go.