Blueberry Cornbread

I was listening to a book on tape and heard about blueberry cornbread.  It totally piqued my curiosity. What a great breakfast treat idea.

Do you listen to books on tape? I love it.  Every day my commute to work, that 80 minutes round trip is made better by listening to some book teaching me something or a story that I can escape into.  So precious!

I am struggling to figure out a rhythm of being a working Mom.  Maybe its futile.  So many things I still want to do and am trying to cram it into small spaces.  Sounds familiar, right?  I guess we all are in that same boat no matter what's on your plate.

Thankfully I have been able to make dinner every night.  I did not want to give that up.  My husband said he would pitch in.  I considered it.  Nahhhhh.  Me!  I want to continue cooking because I do enjoy it.  The other day though, I came in to find him making pancakes and eggs for dinner.  That was a nice surprise and I was very grateful.

BLUEBERRY CORNBREAD

2 cups (10 oz) all purpose flour
1 cup (5 oz) yellow cornmeal
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup Greek yogurt
½ cup white sugar
½ cup whole milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 (11 oz) can whole corn kernels, drained
1 cup blueberries

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 10” cast iron skillet or a 9" square baking pan.
Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the greek yogurt, sugar, milk, melted butter, and eggs together until smooth. Gently fold the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the corn kernels and blueberries.
Pour the batter into the skillet and smooth the top. Bake until cornbread is golden yellow, about 17-20 minutes. Don’t over bake - you don’t want your cornbread to be dry! Remove from the oven and cool completely.
For the cinnamon honey butter, stir together all of the ingredients until fully combined. Serve with cornbread.

Calabacita Soup

One of my favorite Mexican dishes to make in the summer is calabacitas when the vegetables are fresh.  This soup works great in the winter with my frozen vegetables and still packs a powerful flavor punch.

Epazote will give your dish a very authentic taste, but you dont have to have it.  Epazote is actually stink weed.  It has a lot of flavor, but you cant add too much.  You can find it in any Mexican Market or order is online.

Calabacita Soup

2 quarts chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 medium zucchinis
1 teaspoon epazote
2 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup roasted pablano peppers (canned chilis work too)
2 cups corn
s and p

Saute onions and zucchini in oilve oil and butter and cook until onions are transluscent.  Add garlic, cook one minute more.  Add remainder of ingredients except corn. Simmer gently for 20 minutes. Add corn, cook a few minutes more.  Serve.  Add a dollop of sour cream if you like.  I was going light here.

Jalapeno Cornbread

This time of the year, where does the time go?   Well, really, most of the time it moves so quickly!

We have been away.  Getting back home and getting things settled takes about as long as the vacation.  Buying groceries, doing laundry, getting everything put away...  Its all good though.

Last night I really could have been posting but I was sitting at my computer watching Stephen Colbert and Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  I love watching both of them.  I totally enjoyed this interview by Stephen Colbert.  If you want to watch, click below.



I did not realize I liked Stephen Colbert until last night.  You see, we don't have cable and I barely watch any television at all.  Shh, don't tell anyone but I think television is a waste of time for me.  If you like it, great, I am not criticizing here.  I also have a hard time sitting and watching television because there are so many other things I would rather be doing.  Don't get me wrong, I like to watch a show now and again and sometimes I get hooked, like watching Doc Martin on PBS.  Every once in a while I will watch a show on the computer, like last night.

If you ask me about people in the news, especially television or Hollywood people, I will look like an idiot, stammering, "I dont have a clue who you are talking about."  But hey, I now know who Stephen Colbert is. 

Jalapeño Cornbread

These cornbread loves are delicious with lots of flavor and they are super moist.

1/4 cup chopped jalapeñoes I used these pickled ones

5 tablespoons butter, divided 4 melted and for greasing

3.4 ounces cornmeal

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat oven to 400°.  Grease 8 muffins or mini loaves pan with butter.

In a large measuring cup, combine buttermilk, egg and sugar.  In another bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Then add melted butter and jalapenos.  Stir just until combined.

DDivide evenly in pan and bake for 16 to 20 minutes.  Do not overbake.  If the toothpick comes out clean, they are done.

Corn Chowder with Bold Chipotle Seasoning

Sadly, I do not have a stellar picture of this soup to share with you.  Dark days and the soup disappeared really fast.  Doesn't that say something though.  I would totally make this again.  It was hot, I will say but certainly you can turn down the heat by putting less Chipotle Seasoning in.  If you sub in Chipotle of your own it wont taste the same because the mix has thyme and other.
seasonings in it.  

My Mother tells me and I kind of remember too that it was hard to find corn at the markets and stands after Labor Day.  It had nearly petered out by then or we had frosts that early.  This was one of the last weeks in October that I bought this corn.  It was STELLAR tasting corn too!  It was crisp/tender and tasty! So good!

Corn Chowder

1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
2 ounces butter
2 quarts corn broth
1 tablespoon Bold Chipotle Seasoning
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup flour
4 red potatoes, chopped
4 ears of corn

1 cup half and half


Sauté peppers and onion in butter to lightly golden.  Add in flour mixing it up well.  Let the flour paste get a little golden, this is what gives flavor.  Once it has turned golden, add in the corn broth. Then add potatoes, seasonings and bay leaf.  Let it all cook for about forty minutes.  Add in corn and half and half.  Heat it up but do not let it boil again.  Remove bay leaf and serve.

Hatch Corn Salad

Have you heard about Hatch Chilies?  The New Mexico Chile "...is a group of cultivars of the chile pepper, initially developed by pioneer horticulturist, Dr. Fabián Garcia, at New Mexico State University in 1894, then known as Las Cruces College and the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. These peppers were selected to have a "larger smoother, fleshier, more tapering and shoulderless pod for canning purposes. "  According to Wikipedia.  They are the chilies you find in the can at the grocery store.

Our local grocery store had them this year and told people to come and get them.  I did, of course, being the foodie I am.  And I roasted them up, used some and froze the rest.  This corn salad is one of the things I made with the chilies.

It really is prettier with some red peppers in it or even orange but all I had was yellow. Too matchy, matchy.
Hatch Corn Salad

2 cups corn
1/2 cup red onion
1/2 cup bell pepper, preferably a contrasting color
1 hatch chili, roasted and diced

1/2 teaspoon sugar
juice of one lime
1 tablespoon avocado oil or some other mild oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine.

Hatch Chile Roast

Roasted under the broiler. Place in a pot or container with a lid while still hot. The steam will help loosen the skin from the pepper.

Gently pull away skin.

With the back of the knife, swipe away the seeds.

Chop, divide into bags and freeze.  All ready for your recipe this winter.

Mexican Corn Deconstructed

This is a great summer meal for when all the fresh corn is in.  Something different than the usual corn on the cob go to.  Great to use corn from my freezer too, which is what I did here.  I ate about half of this as my lunch.  Hmmm.

Limes are really a game changer for this dish.  You really need the limes.  As my friends Mexican friend says, if you want to make a dish Mexican, just add limes.  I dont know if it is exactly that simple...  This is definitely a dish with lots of Mexican flavor.  Ay, caramba!


Mexican Corn on The Cob Deconstructed
Idea from here at Bon Apetit.


2 cups corn
1 large bell pepper chopped
juice of 1 juicy lime- about a 1/4 cup
salt and pepper
chives or green onions chopped thinly
cotija cheese or feta if you cant find it
garlic, minced

Cook corn, peppers and garlic in frying pan.  Let it sit at the bottom- don't stir too much.  You want to char it a little.  I was going to say brown there but char just sounds so much more sexy! Add in salt and pepper.  Once it is browned quite a bit, remove from heat and sprinkle with some fresh feta and chives or green onions.

Cheese Arepas

No time for styling, just snapped a pic to show you arepas. You can make these fairly quickly. I need to work on shaping them better.  This is the second time I made them.  I plan on making some this summer to go with some fresh veggies- tomatoes specifically.  Hmmmm tomatoes.

Cheese Arepas

2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups arepa flour
4 ounces queso blanco or feta
4 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano

Mix all together and let sit for five minutes.  Knead together and form into patties to fry.

Heat a skillet. Add a little oil on top and fry the arepa until it is lightly golden.  Flip and brown.  Serve with beans, pork, beef or chicken.

 

Check out this lovely lady on you Tube showing how to make arepas- I need to try her recipe! There are a ton of videos on arepas.



I just learned about Hello Arepa here in Rochester.  Apparently, they are at the Pittsford Farmers Market on Thursday nights and different places for lunch.  You can check out their Facebook page here.  I must go check these out.

source: Hello Arepa @ their FB page

Honey Topped Corn Bread

This is a crazy good update. I have made this more times than I can count but just recently it got a LOT better.  Thanks to my daughters bff.  She was over for dinner and talking about a local restaurant's corn bread that is honey topped.

I made the usual sizzle cornbread recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon's book - The Corn bread Gospels.  Immediately after taking it out of the oven I slathered some honey mixed with butter over top.

Seriously. Not a speck left.  It's just that good.

Sizzlin' Honey Topped Corn Bread

aka DAIRY HOLLOW HOUSE SKILLET SIZZLED CORNBREAD but with a little adjustment.


The Cornbread Gospels, by Crescent Dragonwagon; Workman Publishing, NY

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup stone ground corn meal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup mild vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter or mild vegetable oil

honey topping:
Stir together 1/4 cup honey and a 1/4 cup butter room temp.


1. Preheat oven to 375F. Spray a 10 inch cast iron skillet with oil and set aside.

2. Sift together the flour, cornmeal and baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

3. In a smaller bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Whisk in the sugar, egg, and the 1/4 cup of oil.

4. Put the prepared skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and heat until the butter melts and is just starting to sizzle. Tilt the pan to coat the sides and the bottom.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine them quickly, using as few strokes as possible. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cornbread until it is golden, about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently slather the honey butter mixture over top of corn bread. Let cool for a few moments and slice into wedges and serve.

Hushpuppies

I love that my husband is willing to try so many things.  He has never had hush puppies before so I was pretty excited for him and the kids to try these.  I dont do much deep frying around here.  Honestly, maybe one to three times per year.  These looked so good- had to make them. 

I seen these on Serious Eats and adapted them to what I had and how much I wanted to make.  To see the original recipe, click here.

My husband asked where hush puppies came from.  I told him it is a Southern thing but really didn't know more about it.  I Googled it.  One site says the Confederate soldiers would feed it to the dogs to quite them.  Another source, Wikipedia said they have Native American roots.  I am guessing both.

Hush Puppies

2 cups cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
a good shake of granulated garlic powder (eh, a teaspoon)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 dried minced onion
1 1/2 cup buttermilk ( mine is very thick)*
2 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoon hot sauce
1/4 cup chopped scallions 
Oil for frying




Mix the dry ingredients: flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne and dried onion.  Whisk it all together.  Better to combine it all now, rather than when the wet is mixed in.

Mix the wet ingredients: the buttermilk, melted butter, hot sauce.

Combine the wet and dry and add in the chopped scallion.  Stir until just combined. If it feels to dry add more buttermilk.

This is what it should look like when it is ready to go.

With damp hands grab a chunk and start making balls.  Gently place in 350F heated oil.  Fry until golden and turn over to other side.  It will puff so don't crowd it in the pan.  Leave some room for the heat to get up and around.

*Please note:  My buttermilk is very thick, I always have to use more than a recipe calls for. If your buttermilk is thin I would start with a cup and 1/4 of buttermilk before adding more.

Arepas

In the summer, the light is good, perfect for taking pictures around supper time.  But I tell you in the summer it is hard for me to come up with new recipes to share with you all.  The reason is that most of the time, its all about freshness.  I like to roast my veggies or just dress them with some olive oil, that you all know how to do.  Like I cant tell you how many times I have eaten sliced radishes and cucumbers with olive oil and vinegar salt and pepper.  Not very exciting on the blog but very exciting to me at dinner time.  Then of course there are my summer favorites, like Crescent Dragonwagon's corn fritters/pancakes.  I adore them, I make them ad nauseum.  I cant help myself, they are so darn good.  And my mock crab cakes made with zucchini, when summer comes that is one of the first things that I am itching to make.

Things like arepas are vehicles to great food.  They are excellent backgrounds for summer freshness.  Mine don't look it here.  Why?  Because these were made at the end of winter and I am slowly but surely using up the remainder of my blog posts in que.  Too much summer fun, I tell yah! I promise you I will be sending things your way more regularly now because I have been re-inspired.

Arepas
video how to and recipe here at Foodwishes.


2 1/2 cups tepid water
1 teaspoon salt
about 2 cups of P.A.N. white corn meal

Mix together and let sit for a few minutes.  Form into patties and fry.


Next time I make these I want to try these cream cheese arepas.