Double-Corn Tomato Crisp | Baking with Dorie

When Dorie starts the recipe description with: There’s a time…, I feel compelled to hear her out in its entirety. (See the quote below.) I can relate to the sentiment of buying an excessive amount of tomatoes and corn which happened the past weekend. My impulse buying had to do with how irresistible and overflowing the tomatoes and corn were at the farmers market. In addition, I didn’t check what I was supposed to be baking in the next few days. The summer vacation has a way to slow down the clock and the schedule seems to have fallen by the wayside. Please excuse my long-winded way to say: I’m glad to be making the double-corn tomato crisp in mid-August.

“There’s a time, usually in August, when the markets are so full of wonderful tomatoes that I stock up as though they won’t be available the next day. It was after such a spree that I made my first tomato crisp. That I kept making it beyond the summer, and that it was still good, is a testament to the crisp—even average tomatoes are appealing once baked into this dish. And, yes, frozen corn can be used too.

Serve as part of a brunch, put it next to grilled fish—I love it with swordfish—or spoon out alongside burgers, steaks, or any kind of chicken. And while you might think it would be at its best straight out of the oven, the flavors are actually best when the crisp is just warm and still good at room temperature.”

Dorie Greenspan writes in her cook book, Baking with Dorie

Making the corn and tomato fillings is almost like making a corn and tomato salsa. (You may need to cook the corn first to make the salsa since salsa does not require baking.) You add aromatics, acid, heat and fresh herbs to the mix. In this case, add onion, olive oil, sherry vinegar, cayenne pepper and, chopped basil and parsley to kennels from two ears of corn and several large tomatoes. Then toss and combine all the ingredients.

The crisp turns out more sandy than crumbly, unlike Dorie’s bake in the book. The issue could be not squeezing the cornmeal and flour hard enough to form bigger pieces of clumps for the topping. But that’s only part of the answer. Notably, something I seem to have forgotten: reaching the stage of moist clumpy crumbs in the electric mixer takes longer than we think. It might take as long as 5 to 10 minutes of mixing on medium-low speed. In addition, using the mixer ensures better outcome.

Meanwhile, I see the alternative of making a corn and tomato cobbler. That will certainly make the dish more substantial with biscuit-like toppings over the vegetables. Seasonal corn and tomato and fresh herbs served with cobble-stone like topping or crisp, what can be better?

Print Recipe

Double-Corn Tomato Crisp | Baking with Dorie

By Dorie Greenspan – Serves: 6

Ingredients

• FOR THE FILLING
• 2 lb. (907 grams) ripe tomatoes, any kind and any size, cored and cut into 1- to 2-inch chunks
• Kernels from 2 ears corn (about 2 cups; 280 grams)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped, rinsed in cold water and patted dry
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. sherry vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt, or more to taste
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
• Pinch of cayenne pepper or a squirt of hot sauce (optional)
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped fresh herbs, such as basil, coriander, parsley and/or thyme
• FOR THE TOPPING
• 1 cup (176 grams) yellow cornmeal
• ½ cup (68 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. sugar, or more to taste
• 1 tsp. fine sea salt
• ¾ stick (6 tbsp.; 3 oz.; 85 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

Instructions

1

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Put all of the ingredients except the herbs in a large bowl and stir to mix. Set aside, stirring occasionally, while you preheat the oven and make the topping. Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat and put a 2-quart baking dish, round, square or rectangular, on it; Pyrex, enamel or pottery is good here.

2

TO MAKE THE TOPPING: Put all the ingredients except the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl and stir them together. Drop in the butter and toss to coat the pieces with cornmeal and flour. Attach the bowl to the mixer stand, if using, fit it with the paddle attachment and, working on medium low speed, beat until you’ve got a bowl full of fine nubbins. Or, if you’re working by hand, rub everything together to break down the butter. When you squeeze some of the mixture between your fingers, it should hold together.

3

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE THE CRISP: Using a slotted spoon, lift the tomato and corn mixture out of the bowl and into the baking dish. Scoop out ¼ cup of the delicious liquid from the bowl and pour it over the vegetables, add the herbs, and mix to blend well. (If you’ve got leftover juices, hold onto them! Pour into a jar and refrigerate—they’ll make a good drink over ice—think gazpacho—or the base for a nice vinaigrette.) Taste and see if you want more salt, pepper and/or cayenne or hot sauce.

4

To cover the vegetables with the topping, grab small amounts of the topping, squeeze into clumps and drop onto the vegetables; even it with your fingers. Bake the crisp for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the topping is browned and the filling is bubbling madly. Transfer the baking dish to a rack and let the crisp rest. You can dig in after about 20 minutes, but the flavors and textures are better when the crisp is warm rather than hot, or at room temperature. The crisp can be kept at room temperature for about 8 hours.

5

STORING: Leftover crisp can be refrigerated and reheated in a 350-degree oven before serving.

Notes

https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/double-corn-tomato-crisp/