Blackberry-Blue Cornmeal Pancakes with Guajillo Honey Butter
Heirloom blue cornmeal, fresh local blackberries, pastured eggs, cultured butter, fresh buttermilk and wild guajillo honey with a pinch of chili powder..
Blackberry-Blue Cornmeal Pancakes with Guajillo Honey Butter
1 cup organic stone-ground blue cornmeal
1 1/2 cups organic whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup fresh blackberries or blueberries
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
2 large pastured eggs
2 tablespoon cultured butter, melted plus 2 tablespoons cold
2 cups fresh buttermilk
1 teaspoon bacon drippings
2 tablespoons wild guajillo honey
Sift cornmeal, flour, baking soda, chili powder and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and melted butter. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just enough to combine. Gently fold in blackberries and allow mixture to stand 5 minutes.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon bacon drippings in a heavy griddle or comal set over medium heat. Drop batter by the quarter-cupful onto the hot pan and cook until the batter puffs up and bubbles appear along the edges, then flip and cook until golden brown. If making a large batch, pancakes may be kept in a low oven until ready to serve.
To serve, arrange pancakes on a plate and top with guajillo honey and semi-melted butter. Garnish with additional fresh berries and serve hot.
Guajillo Pods
“Guajillo honey looms large in the history, culture and economy of southwestern Texas, particularly in the development of Uvalde County, located about 165 miles southwest of the state capital, Austin. During the 1870’s when settlers were establishing farms and ranches in Uvalde County, they discovered caves and hollow trees full of bees and honey- a bee paradise. The land was nicknamed ‘brush country’ because of the cat claw, kinnikinnick, white brush and Guajillo bushes…” -Slow Food USA
Blackberry-Chipotle Cornbread
Old fashioned, locally ground yellow cornmeal, pastured dairy, seasonal berries, raw honey and smoky chipotle are combined in this variation of traditional skillet cornbread..
Blackberry-Chipotle Cornbread
1 1/4 cups stone-ground cornmeal
1 1/4 cups unbleached, organic all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 aluminum-free teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1 large pastured egg
1 3/4 cups fresh buttermilk
3 tablespoons cultured butter
1/2 pint fresh blackberries
1/2 cup filtered water
1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons raw honey, more or less to taste
1-2 chiles chipotle morita
Remove the stem, seeds and ribs from one or two small chiles chipotle morita and grind into a fine powder. Place the blackberries in a non-reactive pan with the lemon juice, water and chile powder and simmer over medium-low until reduced and thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool to about 100 degrees then stir in honey to taste. Allow to cool completely.
Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk. Slowly stir the buttermilk mixture into the cornmeal mixture until just combined. Don’t over-mix.
Allow the batter to stand while you melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet in a 400 degree oven.
Swirl the cooled blackberry-chipotle sauce into the cornbread batter, leaving it streaky. Remove the skillet from the over and swirl to coat the sides with the hot butter. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake uncovered until just set in the middle, about 25 minutes.
Brush the top of the cornbread with a little more blackberry-chipotle sauce if you think it needs it, then allow to stand 5 minutes before serving.
Blackberry Mascarpone Pancakes
Marion blackberries, fresh mascarpone, soaked and sprouted flours, vanilla bean paste, pastured butter and eggs and a dollop of maple butter..
Blackberry Mascarpone Pancakes
For the Mascarpone
1 pint farm-fresh cream (not the ultra-pasteurized stuff from the grocery store)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
Put the cream into the top of a double boiler set over shimmering (not boiling) water. Once the cream is warm, stir in the cream of tartar and stir continuously until the cream reaches 180 degrees F as measured by a thermometer. Immediately remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Pour into a bowl lined with cheesecloth or a clean towel, cover and allow to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Use within 2 days.
For the Soaked Flour
6 oz organic whole wheat pastry flour
3 oz filtered water
1 tablespoon buttermilk (can substitute whey or yoghurt)
Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl, cover loosely and allow to stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
For the Pancake Batter (informed by a ratio by Michael Ruhlman)
6 oz soaked flour
2 oz sprouted whole wheat flour
2 pastured eggs
2 oz cultured butter, melted
2 tablespoons mascarpone
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (substitute vanilla extract)
1 1/2 tablespoons rapadura
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1 scant teaspoon fine sea salt
buttermilk as needed
Marion or other blackberries, halved if large
Whisk the mascarpone until fluffy, then whisk in the remaining wet ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then combine with the wet ingredients. Thin with buttermilk until thick but pour-able.
Method
Heat a comal or cast iron skillet over a little less than medium heat. Grease lightly with butter, then place small clusters of blackberries around the pan. Let the berries sizzle a bit, then ladle the batter over the top. Cook until golden brown, turning once. Serve hot from the pan with a dollop of maple butter.
This post is part of Real Food Wednesdays
Blue Cornbread
Organic, stone-ground blue cornmeal, fresh buttermilk, pastured eggs..
Blue Cornbread
(adapted from a recipe by Crescent Dragonwagon)
1 1/2 cups organic stone-ground blue cornmeal
1/3 cup organic, unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup roasted corn kernels
1/2 tablespoon dried jalapeño (optional)
1 1/4 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 pastured eggs
3/4 fresh buttermilk
1 cup fresh whole milk
2 tablespoons pastured butter
Cut corn from the cob and toast in a skillet with a little butter (and jalapeño, if using) until golden brown. Set aside to cool.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl
Whisk the eggs into the buttermilk, then add to the flour mixture. Add corn and stir to combine, using as few strokes as possible.
Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Use a bunched-up paper towel to rub melted butter up the sides of then pan, then pour the remaining butter into the cornbread batter and stir to combine.
Pour the cornbread batter into the hot skillet and bake in a 350-degree oven until it passes the toothpick test, about 50-60 minutes.
Allow to cool and serve with raw honey butter.
Jalapeno Cornbread
Do you remember the taste of real, honest-to-God yellow corn? You know, back before the genetically modified junk that nowadays goes into producing HFCS, ethanol and batteries?
Yeah, that stuff..
Jalapeño Cornbread
(adapted from a recipe by Michael Ruhlman)
Makes 1 loaf
1 cup organic, whole grain yellow corn meal
1/3 cup sprouted wheat flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
8 ounces real buttermilk
2 large pastured eggs
4 ounces melted pastured butter
2 or more fresh jalapeño peppers
1 cup fresh yellow corn
Toast corn and seeded and chopped jalapeño peppers in a dry skillet until corn is slightly browned. Toasting brings out the corn’s natural sweetness, eliminating the need for added sugar, and makes the peppers slightly less hot and more complex in flavor. Set aside.
Mix the corn meal, flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.
Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, then fold in the peppers and corn.
Put the batter into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees until just barely dry in the middle, about 30 minutes.
Allow to cool several minutes before slicing and serving warm with pastured butter or raw wildflower honey.
For a real treat, fry slices of cornbread in butter or a bit of bacon fat.
Did you know that “44 percent of U.S. corn becomes domestic animal feed, and another 10 percent ends up in feed rations as the ethanol byproduct distillers grains? That means more than half of U.S. corn—our nation’s largest farm crop—ends up on feedlots”.
This post is part of the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival
Spotted Dog
Also called railway cake, this recipe starts out as Irish soda bread..
Adapted from numerous recipes found on the internet
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat flour
2 teaspoons non-refined sugar or other sweetener
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
Sift the dry ingredients together then add the caraway, raisins and milk. The dough will be soft, damp and a little tacky. Turn out into a standard loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until the loaf passes the toothpick test.
Try it toasted with jam for breakfast.
Tastes best the 1st day, but will last 2 if sealed in an airtight container.
Rating ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ -
