Cinco de Quatro CornBall with Burnt Tomato Salsa
Fans of Arrested Development will immediately get the references here. We are celebrating Cinco De Quatro and Cinco De Mayo, so it is only natural to start the day with Cinco de Quatro CornBall with Burnt Tomato Salsa.
The cornballer was an invention of George Bluth. It is an electric fryer with a strainer ball that bounces and sprays hot oil. Of course, it burns anyone who uses it. It was outlawed, but, George wanted to keep selling them, so he marketed them in Mexico (even though it was outlawed there as well). It was a recurring gag on the show.
I’ve seen other people pay tribute to this by posting recipes for “cornballs”. The ones I have seen are basically hush puppy recipes. Watching the show, it is obvious that the cornballs they make are more like empanadas. They clearly roll out dough rounds, fill, form, then fry them. So, that is what we have here.
For this Cinco de Quatro CornBall with Burnt Tomato Salsa recipe, we start with an empanada dough made with Masa Harina. Masa is a corn flour with a lime accent common in Mexican cooking. You can substitute flour or do a mixture of flour and Masa. I find flour tends to work better. But, to stick with the theme, corn flour makes sense.
Since we don’t want anyone to actually burn themselves making these, we “burn” the tomato salsa. Actually, it’s not really burnt, but charred. The smokiness of grilled tomatoes and onions make this a more rustic salsa.
Table of Contents
Pay tribute. Try a Cinco de Quatro CornBall; and, do a chicken dance.
For the sake of the show, we fry these. You, however, can take different approaches. They should work in an air fryer. But, I don’t know how crisp they will come out. You can always bake them like a traditional empanada. Switch out fillings as you see fit. Everything is adaptable. Don’t be chicken! Do a dance and try a cornball.
Cinco de Quatro CornBall with Burnt Tomato Salsa
Equipment
- You could use an illegal cornballer…or not.
Ingredients
- 3 cups Masa Harina
- 4 ounces Coconut oil melted
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 Tbsp Salt
- For filling:
- Avocado oil for cooking ingredients
- 1 cup fresh grilled or roasted corn
- 1 cup diced sweet onion
- 1 Tbsp Fresh chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup diced sweet peppers (preferably red)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or jack cheese (or combined)
- 1/2 cup Chopped Fresh Scallion
- 1 Tbsp corn meal
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 large egg, beaten for sealing the dough.
- Neutral oil for frying
- For the Salsa:
- 1 Lb Whole plum tomatoes tomatoes cut in 1/2
- 1 large red onion, cut in thick slices
- 1 large jalapeno, seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup Fresh chopped scallions
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix the masa Harina, coconut oil, salt and 1/2 of the water either by hand or in a food processor. Add more water as needed to make a pliable dough. Set the dough aside to rest at least 30 minutes.
- Make the filling. Heat oil in a saute pan. Add in onion and garlic. Cook over medium high heat until translucent. Add in the cornmeal and stir. Then add all other ingredients. Remove from heat, and mix well.
- Make the salsa: Toss the tomatoes and onion slices in a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Grille over high heat on a pre-heated grille. You want to get a good char on them. Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend. Put salsa in a bowl and reserve for service.
- Heat oil to fry or use a fryer.
- Cut the dough into 24 pieces and roll out into rounds. Press them flat. Brush them with egg around the edges. Fill the middle with the corn and cheese filling. Fold the dough to create a ball and pinch the edges to seal in the filling. (you could also forego the ball shape and do a more traditional empanada shape.
- Fry the cornballs in 350 degree oil until golden brown. Serve with salsa.