cornbread

Mmmmm. Very, very morrish.

delicious cornbread

Don’t like to blow my own trumpet but this far exceeded my expectations.

I have never warmed to the idea of cornbread, even though I like corn.

This is really tasty, you could eat it alone with a nice salad.

I slightly rewarmed it today and had it as my lunch with a salsa type salad….Scrummy:)

When I was making chili the day before,  I thought “Why not cornbread, to mop up all the gravy ?”

very tasty

Cornbread, which is of course the traditional accompaniment to chili.

It really did just hit the spot.

The original recipe had Chili in it as well but I left that out because my chili was quite HOT and I thought it would be chili overload………strangely enough:)

 I would give it a go with the chili in the recipe when accompanying a dish that perhaps wasn’t spicy and maybe needed a bit of juzzz to it.

Maybe with a nice hearty stew or casserole?

Or alone?

Gorgeous with Chili or alone

Caramelise the onions..

So what will you need?

1 can of corn kernels or 2 cobs of fresh corn.

1 onion

Salt and pepper

1 cup of polenta/ cornmeal

1 cup of flour

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

Good slug or two of Olive oil.

Add the corn in

This is basically like a batter.

Chop up the onion and fry it gently in a fry pan with the Olive oil until golden and caramelly then add in the corn and fry for a further 5-10 minutes .

While the corn and onion is cooking, break eggs into a bowl and whisk.

Add in milk, polenta, salt and pepper, flour, and baking powder.

Mix well and place to the side.

Cornbread batter

Remove corn and onions from element and leave to cool.

Pre heat the oven to 180 Celsius.

Grease a heavy skillet pan if you have one, if not,  a cake tin is fine.

I used a 20 inch cake tin but make sure it is well-greased.

I wouldn’t line the tin as it will then take away the possibility of it having a crunchy bottom as well.

Pour corn mix into the batter..

Pour batter into the prepared skillet/ tin and place in the oven.

After 15 minutes, open the oven and sprinkle the cheese on the top.

Cook for 35 minutes in total until golden brown.

Remove from oven and allow to cool a little in the pan.

When cool enough to touch, remove from skillet/tin and cut into pieces and serve warm if possible.

Place in the oven

Ready to eat

Have another piece…

full now!!

Now the beauty with this recipe is that you can alter it and add to it.

I think it would be nice with capsicum in it as well and you could even make it a meal on its own with maybe spicy salami in it?

Up to you but great as versatile.

This served 6 of us .

Recipe was adapted from Chilli Cheese Cornbread in Jamie Oliver’s “Jamie’s America”.

http://greedybread.wordpress.com/2012/12/02/ole-mexican-cheesey-cornbread/

Saturday was pickup day for Pioneer Valley's grain CSA. I am really impressed with the variety and quality of the grains and beans we got. I'll do a more extensive post on what we got later, but here's the first cooking effort. I used the same recipe from my blue corn cornbread entry, using Red Llamas Wheat and Mandan Bride Corn.

The Bride Corn kernels were so big that my mill had a hard time 'grabbing' them and pulling them into the stone. I ended up having to mill it twice -- the first time with the outer wheel very loose to get a coarse, rough grind, and then a second pass at a finer setting. It was a pain in the butt, but it worked.

The flavor of the final product was superb, I paired the bread with a berebere-rubbed pot roast with yams and carrots.

This is a moist, sweet cornbread similar to those made from Louisiana to North Carolina. You'll find it served with just about everything, like Chicken & Butter Beans or Red Beans & Rice.

To make a classic Cajun breakfast cereal known as 'couche-couche' (pronounced 'coosh-coosh'), crumble some in a bowl and pour warm milk (or café au lait) over it. I prefer to heat the cornbread and then pour ice-cold milk over it, but that's just me.

If you like your cornbread dry and savory, like those made in Texas and the American Southwest, this is not it.

FORMULA.

PROCEDURE.

 - Preheat oven to 400° F (204° C).
 - Melt butter.
 - Whisk dry ingredients together until just combined.
 - Add all other ingredients (including melted butter) and mix until just combined.
 - Portion (~800 grams/pan) into 4 buttered (8.5 x 4.5 inch [21.5 x 11.5 cm]) loaf pans.
 - Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

IMAGES.

Image 1. Not my photograph, but result looks just like this. Source. Elly Says Opa.

FILES.

1. The formula in an Excel 2007 spreadsheet. (File can be opened with Google Docs, Open Office, etc.).
2. The formula in PDF format.
3. The detailed process in text format.

SOURCE.

I don't remember where I found this recipe, but I've tweaked it so much over the years that it might as well be my own. I think it was called Charlie's Cornbread, so that's what I'll call it. Charlie, if you're out there, thank you for the original recipe.

• This ain't your Momma's traditional cornbread, but if you want to try  a great tasting bread with a nice sourdough twang, and corn flavor then read on.

  I just returned from my trip to North Carolina to celebrate my Father-in-law's 80th birthday.  My wife and myself cooked up a storm but unfortunately I didn't have time to make any bread for the occasion so I'm itching to get back to my bread making.

  I decided to try adapting a recipe I found on the www.thefreshloaf.com  from Steve B. at www.breadcetera.com for a Corn Bread made with a poolish starter.  I used my sourdough starter in place of the poolish and also eliminated the yeast from the recipe.  I used my usual baking method borrowed from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Everyday and the results were excellent if I do say so myself!

  Corn flour is used along with All Purpose flour and since the corn flour does not have the ability to form gluten the resulting bread has a pretty tight crumb.  I tried my best to copy the stenciling design done by Steve B. and I think it came out pretty close.

  

  Final Dough

  15.80 ounces Refreshed White Starter, 68% hydration  (approximately 6.8 oz. water, 10.5 oz. All Purpose Flour, 3.7 ounces starter)

  14 oz. Water (90 degrees F)

  16 ounces All-Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur's)

  8.95 ounces Corn Flour

  3 Tsp. Salt (sea salt or table salt)

  3 Tbs. Olive Oil

  Directions

  For the final dough, using your stand mixer or by hand, mix the water with the refreshed starter to break it up.

  Add the flours, salt, and olive oil and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes.

  Mix for 4 minutes more on medium speed, adding more flour if necessary to produce a slightly sticky ball of dough.

  Remove dough to your lightly floured work surface and need for 1 minute and form into a ball.

  Leave uncovered for 10 minutes.

  Do a stretch and fold and form into a ball again and cover with a clean moist cloth or oiled plastic wrap.

  After another 10 minutes do another stretch and fold and let it rest again for another 10 minutes.  Do one last stretch and fold and then put it  into a lightly oiled bowl that has enough room so the dough can double overnight.

  Let the dough sit in your bowl for 2 hours at room temperature.  It should only rise slightly at this point.  After the 2 hours are up put it in your refrigerator for at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.

  When ready to bake the bread take your bowl out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for around 2 hours.  After 2 hours shape the dough as desired being careful not to handle the dough too roughly so you don't de-gas it.

  Place it in your bowl, banneton or shape into baguettes.

  Let it sit at room temperature for 2 hours covered with oiled plastic wrap or a moist cloth.

  Pre-heat oven with baking stone (I use one on bottom and one on top shelf of my oven), to 500 degrees F.

  If you want to make the fancy "Corn Stalk" design, cut a strip of paper and place it on the middle of the round dough and sift a light dusting of flour over the dough.  Next make 3 slashes on both sides of the "stalk" and then  place an empty pan in bottom shelf of your oven.

  

  Pour 1 cup of very hot water into pan and place loaves into oven.  I also prefer to use a water bottle and spray the sides of the oven 2 times at 3 minute intervals to add some additional steam.

  Lower oven to 450 Degrees and bake for 25 - 35 minutes until bread is golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees.

  Shut the oven off and leave the bread inside with the door slightly open for 10 minutes.  This will help dry the loaves out and keep the crust crunchy.

  Let cool on cooling rack and enjoy!

  As you can see the crumb is very tight which is mainly due to the corn flour.  When I make this bread again I would try to add some fresh roasted corn to give it an added boost of corn flavor.

  

  

  This post has been submitted to the Yeast Spotting Site here: http://www.wildyeastblog.com/category/yeastspotting

• Please visit my other blog at www.mookielovesbread.wordpress.com for some of my older posts and be sure to let me know if you try this recipe.

Thank you Chef Reinhart to a wonderful addition to the Cornbread world!

I think this version would be wonderful for stuffing!

The night before preparation

2 cups of buttermilk

1 cup of corn polenta grits Put both of these ingredients in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temp.

The next day add dry ingredients into large bowl as follows:

1 3/4 cup of unbleached all purpose flour

1/4 tsp of baking soda

1 1/2 tab of baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

Add to the buttermilk mixture

3 large eggs

2 tab of honey

2 tab of butter melted

2 1/2 cups of corn, fresh or frozen

2 tab of bacon fat or veg oil

 Note:   He uses 10 slices of bacon crumbled in the recipe.

Mix wet and dry together and pour into baking dish, I used an old cast iron skillet. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes at 350.  Time will vary depending on pan and oven.

I broke out the metal 'stones' for my Retsel and made cornbread tonight. The corn was organic blue corn from Heartland Mill. The wheat flour in the recipe was a mixture of hard red and hard white wheat from Pleasant Hill. These, plus some butter and jam, were all we needed for dinner tonight.

OK so it's not sourdough, it's not even yeasted. But and this is a big but, i swear it is the best damn cornbread EVER!

In fact, I have just vowed to myself that I can only make this for a special treat because over the course of just today I have lost all reason and have eaten more of this cornbread than i care to admit!

This cornbread recipe is taken from Peter Reinhart's Brother Juniper's Bread Book.

It is the perfect sweetness; I went just a little lighter on the sugar than the recipe called for due to the fact that the actual corn I used was off of cobs that I had frozen fresh from last summer, and I knew how sweet it was. There is a healthy amount of buttermilk in the recipe, and the clincher I think is the generous amount of uncooked polenta (out of the 3 cups of polenta it called for I substituted 1/2 of it with stoneground cornmeal just because I didn't have enough polenta). The uncooked polenta gave each bite a perfect little crunch inside the buttery moistness.

As you can see, the top developed a nice crispy crunch, it is I must say Cornbread Perfection.

For those of you who dare to indulge here is my exact version - ever so slightly altered from Peter's recipe:

• 4 cups all purpose white (I used King Arthur organic)
• 2 1/2 cups uncooked polenta + 1/2 cup stoneground organic cornmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill)
  
• 4 1/2 Tablespoons Baking Powder
• 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt
• 1 cup raw sugar granules
• 2 rounded cups corn kernels (I used frozen corn from farm fresh cobs from last summer)
• 3 eggs
• 1 stick butter melted
  
• 3 cups Buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients together including corn kernels (used fingers). Wisk eggs, then wisk in Buttermilk and butter. Pour wet ingredients into dry and then mix together (I used my hand again) only until all of the flour is hydrated but no more. Pour into a greased pan. I used one that is rectangular, probably an 8X14 or around there. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out fairly clean from the middle. And it rises! It is big and thick and makes a lot.

So, if you like cornbread, your in for a treat. Make this if you dare, but be prepared!

It is really perfect the way it is, but I am wonderng if a few chopped up hot chile peppers might make it even more sinful!

Enjoy!