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.
Meatless Monday on Tuesday, the Twister Edition
For those of you who having been hanging out around here for very long already know, I usually eat a vegetarian meal once or twice a week, posting in support of Meatless Monday. I also like to participate in adopted sister Wardeh’s weekly Tuesday Twister, wherein we take a look back at what’s been going on in our kitchens over the previous week or so. This post is a bit of a mashup between the two – let’s call it Meatless Monday on Tuesday, the Twister Edition..
Cheese Soup with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower
Mostly Local Cheese Soup with Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower (serves 2)
1 cup fresh broccoli florets (Naeglin Farm)
1 cup fresh cauliflower florets (Finca Pura Vida)
1 bulb green garlic, trimmed (Green Gate Farm)
2 cups homemade vegetable stock
2 tablespoons pastured butter, melted (Pastureland)
1 teaspoon safflower threads (poor man’s saffron, optional)
6 oz raw, grass-fed cheddar cheese, grated (Veldhuizen Dairy)
2 oz raw, grass-fed parmesan cheese, grated (Veldhuizen Dairy)
freshly-grated nutmeg
pinch of cayenne
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Toss broccoli, cauliflower and green garlic in melted butter, season with salt and pepper and roast in a 400 degree oven until caramelized, about 30 minutes. Turn the vegetables out onto a cutting board and allow to cool enough to handle, then coarsely chop and add to simmering vegetable stock. Add safflower if using and allow to simmer 20 minutes, then slowly add in grated cheeses, stirring as you go until thick and smooth. Season with nutmeg and cayenne and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary. Serve hot.
Recently..
1) BLTC; smoked pork belly, arugula, Texas tomato and raw cheddar on wild yeast sourdough with homemade mayo..
2) Lamb Kefta Kebabs Local, pastured lamb is ground with cinnamon, coriander, cumin and mint before being skewered, seared and flash-roasted with fiery harissa..
3) Purple Corn Maque Choux, a southern Louisiana-style vegetarian dish of maíz morado, celery, onions, carrots, bell peppers and cajun seasonings..
4) Red Chile Pork, Local, pastured pork is pan-seared then braised until tender in a thin paste of red chilies, garlic, Mexican oregano and pineapple juice before being served on top of fresh corn tortillas, silky guacamole and fresh pineapple habanero salsa..
5) Pease Porridge, yellow and green split pease simmered in chicken stock with seasonal root vegetables, served over griddled boule..
Lemon Poppyseed Cookies
Sprouted flour, pastured butter, honey, fresh lemon and poppyseeds are the only ingredients you’ll need for this wholesome treat..
Lemon Poppyseed Cookies
Makes about 18 cookies (adapted from a recipe by Michael Ruhlman)
3 oz raw honey
6 oz pastured butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened
9 oz sprouted flour, finely milled
zest of 2 small lemons
1 tablespoon poppyseeds
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
Using an electric mixer, whip together honey and softened butter until light and fluff. Stir in the zest of 2 lemons (a micro-plane works best for producing tiny zest), poppyseeds and vanilla (if using). With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour a little at a time until just combined. Turn out the dough onto a piece of parchment paper and roll into a log about 2 inches in diameter. Twist the ends and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Using a thin-bladed knife, cut the dough into 3/8 inch-thick rounds and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven until light golden brown, about 12-15 minutes. Best eaten within 2 days, not that that should pose a problem for anybody :-)
Chocolate Mesquite Muffins
Sprouted wheat, mesquite flour, pastured butter and eggs, cacao nibs, sweet cinnamon..
Chocolate Mesquite Muffins
Makes 10-12 muffins
5 oz sprouted wheat flour
1 1/2 oz pastry flour
1 1/2 oz mesquite flour
1 tablespoon cacao powder
2 oz non-refined sugar or other sweetener
1/2 cups grain-sweetened chocolate chips
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking soda
8 oz fresh whole milk
2 large pastured eggs
4 oz pastured butter, melted
1 teaspoon cacao nibs
1 teaspoon true cinnamon
Combine flours, cacao powder, sugar, salt and baking soda together in a bowl.
Whisk together milk, eggs and melted butter.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stir until just combined.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Place large spoonfuls of batter into buttered muffin pan. Sprinkle tops with crushed true cinnamon and cacao nibs and bake until muffins pass the toothpick test, about 30 minutes.
Best served warm.
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- Chocolate Mesquite Muffins
Hazelnut Fudge Brownies
I debated about whether to call these triple chocolate brownies or chocolate fudge brownies or something else, finally settling on simply Hazelnut Fudge Brownies.
Made with sprouted spelt, raw cacao and pastured butter, these brownies are insanely delicious by any name..
Hazelnut Fudge Brownies
1 cup raw cacao beans
1/4 cup oz raw cacao powder
1/4 cup oz unsweetened chocolate chips
1/2 cup organic, raw hazelnuts
1/4 lb (1 stick) pastured butter, softened
1/2 cup rapadura or other non-refined sweetener
2 large pastured eggs
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
4 oz sprouted spelt flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 3-fingered pinch sea salt
Place the raw cacao and hazelnuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes. Do not allow to burn.
When cool enough to handle, place the cacao beans in a clean kitchen towel and bash with a small skillet or meat mallet. Take the towel outside and allow the wind to blow away the papery skins. You’ve just made your own cacao nibs.
Now do the same thing with the hazelnuts, but don’t worry too much about the skins.
Combine flour, cacao powder, salt and baking powder in a glass bowl.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously.
Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture, add the cacao nibs and stir to combine.
Spread the batter (it will be thick and paste-like) into a buttered 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle hazelnuts and chocolate chips over the top.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until a knife blade inserted into the middle comes out almost, but not-quite clean, about 20-25 minutes. Do not over-bake, or the brownies will be dry.
Cover the pan with a clean towel and allow to cool on a rack for at least 20 minutes.
Serving with a glass of fresh milk if you like.
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- Hazelnut Fudge Brownies
Did you know that raw cacao has 30 times the anti-oxidant power of green tea?
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
