(And I may never give up my saucy cabbage-leaf cap.)
Hard to believe it, but it's time to begin tidying up the garden for winter. Today we cut down the cornstalks from the patch of Oaxacan Green Dent, with the intention of chopping them up and composting them. Which we did, to an extent. But these are the Green Chillis, and our imaginations know no bounds. One can do many things with a cornstalk. And the bold takeover of the library: Quite a satisfactory afternoon, I should say, what-what!
(And I may never give up my saucy cabbage-leaf cap.)
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Today we harvested the bulk of our Oaxacan Green Dent and Two-Inch Strawberry Popcorn! If corn kernels were as hardy as minerals, we wouldn't have to mine at all to have a plentiful supply of colorful, iridescent gems for our jewelry-makers. We planted our Strawberry Popcorn from seed we saved last year from our mini-field in the parking-lot median (that, in turn, was planted from seed I grew in my own garden at home). Though planted in a smaller area, this year's harvest was even better! This was probably due largely to better soil, more timely planting, and plenty of rain. The ears were larger and we didn't see any huitlacoche, which claimed several ears last time (though that was a treat in itself - or at least a worthwhile experience, depending on who you ask). Though we planted late enough last year to avoid cross-pollination, this year our corn was tasseling around the same time as the Oaxacan Green (I think we missed the window for crossing with the conventional field corn around the library). That, or a recessive gene, or who-knows-what-in-the-mysterious-history-of-this-variety-of-corn may have contributed to the exciting finding we had: four ears of white corn! They looked like albino versions of the normally red ears, except that one of them had a single yellow kernel. Maybe that yellow kernel came from a few years ago, when I planted the ancestors of these seeds at home near a plot of Tom Thumb Popcorn (I don't recall if they tasseled at the same time). We've sent off photos to our friends at the Seed Savers Exchange (the original seed came from them), and we may try to grow these seeds out and stabilize the unusual trait. Backyard genetics for the curious gardener!
We took advantage of growing our own dent corn to harvest a few ears early for green corn tamales. Now, although our variety is Oaxacan Green Dent, "green corn" refers here to corn that is usually harvested when hard and dry, picked while still somewhat immature. In our case, we probably let it go a little too long, as it was pretty dry when we went to grind it into masa. Nevertheless, our experimental tamales turned out quite tasty, especially when paired with the wonderful fresh salsa that the Chillis whipped up with fresh tomatoes, peppers, and chives. You can see the tamale recipe on which we more-or-less based our own endeavor here. This ear of Oaxacan Green Dent (pictured below) is a little more mature than the ones we used for the tamales. But isn't it gorgeous? First, I cut the corn from the cobs and scraped them well to remove as much of the kernel as possible. It was at this point I realized our corn matured to a drier state than would have been ideal for the tamale project. However, we went ahead with the experiment. We ground the corn in a blender, though a food processor would have worked better, as dry as the corn was. We blended in the butter, and then mixed in the masa harina with a hand mixer until the mixture was fluffy. We put a generous spoonful in each corn husk, and folded them up (adding a strip of hot pepper to some of them), and the little packets were ready for the steamer.
Steaming tamales. (Important: add water to just below the tamales, but add more during the process as needed and don't let it boil dry [it can happen faster than you think]. If it boils dry and the corn cobs scorch, you will never be get your pot clean again, especially if it's made out of stuff you can't use a scrubby on. Not that I know from experience or anything...)
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June 2017
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