The Gritty,Wonderful Truth About Cornmeal

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EGGPLANT HUSH PUPPIES

I suppose you could call this a successful marriage of southern U.S. and northern Italian cuisines. I call these pups downright scrumptious!

2 eggplants, peeled and sliced
salt
3 to 4 tablespoons of grated onion
3 to 4 tablespoons of fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt oil for deep-frying

Start by cooking the slices of eggplant slowly in a small amount of boiling water (the smaller the better, since eggplants tend to release a lot of liquid of their own). When the slices are very tender, drain them and make a couple passes at them with the salt shaker ... then—when they're cool enough to handle with your bare hands—chop the pieces very fine, or mash them into a pulp. Add the grated onion and chopped parsley to the minced or mashed eggplant.

In a mixing bowl, combine the cornmeal, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and a teaspoon of salt. Then, in another bowl, mix some of the eggplant-onion-parsley blend with some of the dry mixture until you've created a dough that is just firm enough so that you can later form it into walnut-sized balls. (Note: You may end up with an excess either of eggplant or dry ingredients.) When the consistency of the mixture seems about right, cover the bowl and allow the dough to "blend" for half an hour.

Thirty minutes later, dip the eggplant-cornmeal mixture out by the tablespoon and form each spoonful into a ball. Deep-fry the balls in medium-hot (about 350°) oil until golden brown ... then drain them on brown paper, and serve piping hot.

The resulting hush puppies are great with tomato sauce ... and not bad by themselves, either!

FARINATA
(Cornmeal, greens, and beans)

1 pound of dried beans (pink or white beans are the most attractive for this dish)
2 quarts of water
1 small onion
2 ribs of celery (with leaves), cut into 1/2" chunks
few sprins of parsley
1 clove of garlic
2 pounds of greens (kale, chard, turnip, or your favorite)
1 quart of water
1-1/2 cups of cornmeal
1-1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 cup of water
1/4 to 3/4 cup of vegetable (or olive) oil

Wash the beans and drop them very slowly—so that the boiling never stops—into two quarts of boiling water. Boil hard for four minutes ... then turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let the beans soak and tenderize. (Depending entirely on your schedule, this can be anywhere from four hours to overnight.) Next, cut the onion in half and add it to the partially tenderized beans. You should also add the celery chunks, the parsley, and the garlic (run a toothpick through the clove of garlic for later identification) at this time. Simmer these ingredients together until the beans are completely soft—one to two hours—then remove and discard the onion, the celery chunks, the parsley, and the clove of garlic. (Note: Do not drain the liquid.)

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