Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Cornmeal-Cabbage Muffins

Williams-Sonoma, the kitchenware shop that sells quality kitchen stuff, has a series of cook books – Like their shop, the cookbooks are very clean, organized, not a lot of recipes, but have an excellent presentation and gorgeous photos. The book size is not too big, not too small; they are like short notebooks with color photo on every page. Each book focuses on one topic. So far, Cookies, Cakes, Muffins, Breads and Risotto – these are the cookbooks, I borrowed from my local library and flicked through. More than anything, they are eye candy.

Williams-Sonoma

Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness, my blog friend is blogging recipes from ‘Muffins‘ cookbook. When she mentioned last week that she was going to try cornmeal-jalapeno muffin recipe, I wanted to join in and made a baking date with her. After two renewals and before returning the book to the library, I wanted to try at least one recipe. FInally last weekend, I baked cornmeal muffins from the book.

I followed the recipe mostly and also added some extras, because I was preparing these muffins for our supper. In addition to corn meal, all purpose flour, butter milk and baking powder etc, I have also added cabbage, shallot, chickpeas sauté to the cornmeal dough, so that the muffins baked would be more dinner worthy. They turned out, I can’t say excellent, but acceptable, even after all these extras. I can’t imagine the taste if I tried them bland with only just cornmeal and chillies.

cornmeal-cabbage dough in muffin pan - all ready for baking

Recipe:
(For 11 muffins)

1½ cups of yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1½ cups of buttermilk
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 teaspoon of each – salt, sugar and baking powder
Some cheese gratings to top the muffins
Veggies I added
3 cups of finely chopped cabbage (I used red cabbage)
3 shallots and 6 green chillies- finely chopped
½ cup of chickpeas (soaked overnight)

First I sautéed the veggies together for few minutes, until they are cooked. In the meantime, I mixed all other ingredients together thoroughly without any lumps. I stirred in the sautéed veggie mixture to the dough. Greased the muffin pan with little bit of oil, leaving one muffin cup empty and filling it with water to prevent warping (following the book suggestion). Filled the muffin cups with cornmeal-cabbage dough. I also sprinkled cheese on top of some. Baked them in a preheated oven at 400 F (200C) for about 25 minutes, until they are golden.

They tasted like baked versions of cabbage bajjis (you know the kind, bajjis/pakoras – veggies mixed in a gram flour-jowar flour-rice flour dough, then deep fried — almost like that).

Cornmeal Cabbage Muffins - One with cheese sprinkled on top and the other with no cheese topping
Cornmeal-Cabbage Muffins

Recipe Source: Adapted from ‘Williams Sonoma-Muffins’, page 46
Things I skipped adding (from the book’s recipe) are 2 eggs, another 1 ½ tsp of baking powder and more oil – reason for my flat muffin tops.

On a blogging break. See you all in a few days.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in All-Purpose Flour(Maida),Cabbage,Chickpeas,Corn Meal,Shallots (Tuesday February 28, 2006 at 2:07 pm- permalink)
Comments (34)

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Skillet Cornbread with Okra Topping

The first snow of the season has arrived this morning. The rain turned to snow for few minutes, giving us a brief glimpse of coming season. It was cold enough, so to warm the house and the stomach, I cranked up the oven to 400° F and baked cornbread with okra toppings. This is my first attempt at cornbread and it was a success, thanks to the detailed recipe written by Barbara of Tigers and Strawberries. I changed the recipe to my liking and also added crisply fried okra as cornbread topping.

Recipe:

Okra topping :
1 cup thinly sliced okra rounds, one onion, three green chillies and two garlic cloves all finely chopped. Saute them in oil, until they turn crisp and crunchy, like you normally do for a dry curry.

Cornbread Batter :
• Mix together 1 cup yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour, 1 tsp each- baking powder and soda, 1/2 tsp salt.
• In another bowl, mix – 2 eggs (I removed yellows), 1 cup buttermilk, 4 tablespoons of molasses/sugar and 4 tablespoons of peanut oil.
• Combine the dry and wet ingredients.
• I also added half cup watermelon seeds that I brought from Nandyala to this mixture for some nutty crunch and nutritional value..

Covering sautéed okra with cornbread batter Sautéed okra fully covered with cornbread batter

Baking:

Preheat the oven to 400 ° F. When you are ready with cornbread batter and sautéed okra, place the empty iron skillet in oven and heat it up (Barbara’s tip). Remove the hot skillet from the oven. First place the okra in the skillet, then pour the cornbread batter over it. Spread the batter neat and even with a spatula. Place the iron skillet in oven, bake at 400° F, for about 20 to 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

Baked Skillet Cornbread with Okra Skillet Cornbread with Okra topping

Because this is for our lunch, I also baked some cauliflower florets and some baby lima beans along with cornbread. Just tossed the baby limas and cauliflower florets in some oil, salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and baked until they turn crisp.

We both liked cornbread with okra very much. Thanks Barbara for the wonderful cornbread recipe.

Baked lima beans are good too, but cauliflower florets…oy!. Not that good. I won’t be baking cauliflower again, ever!

Skillet Cornbread with Okra and on the side Baked Lima beans, cauliflower and a drink- Ragi Malt ...Our meal today
Skillet Cornbread with okra toppings, baked baby lima beans and baked cauliflower florets & Ragi malt ~ our meal today.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Benda Kaaya(Okra),Corn Meal (Thursday November 17, 2005 at 3:21 pm- permalink)
Comments (11)

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Cranberry Upside-Down Cornbread

I love the taste of cranberries. Tangy and tart! Their flavor, like their color, is intense. Full of Vitamin C and antioxidants, they are perfect antidote to the blues of coming winter. This American fruit of holiday season does not cost that much, when purchased during the harvest time (Sep, Oct). A dollar or two for a bag of 12 ounces. A good thing for budget conscious people like me.

Today, I tried this recipe from W.H MD, changed it little bit to my taste and made an upside-down cranberry cornbread. The result was as the recipe says,- moist, tender cornbread with the sweet and tangy cranberry sauce on the top. Tasted really good!

Cranberry Upside-Down Cornbread

Recipe:

Cranberry Topping
1 bag (12 ounces) fresh cranberries
1 glass of orange juice, freshly squeezed
Half cup of powdered jaggery

Cornbread
1½ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 large egg

Corn Meal, Whole Wheat Flour, Fresh Cranberries, Cranberry sauce, Buttermilk

The sauce: In a saucepan, combine orange juice, jaggery and cranberries. Bring to a boil and let it simmer, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes or until berries have popped and sauce is thick.

The Cornbread: Preheat the oven to 400° F. Combine dry ingredients – cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another vessel, beat the egg; combine with peanut oil and buttermilk. Add this to the flour mix and mix them thoroughly. I also added some cut cranberries to this mix. If you want, you can also add some sugar to this mix.

Grease a baking dish or bread pan with peanut oil. Pour the cranberry sauce first, then the flour mixture on top of it. Bake it at 400°F for about 30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan, then invert onto a plate, carefully. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Last Slice of Cranberry Cornbread  - Just because Shammi asked for it
Last Slice of Cranberry Cornbread – Just for you Shammy:)

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Corn Meal,Cranberries,Jaggery (Tuesday November 8, 2005 at 9:10 pm- permalink)
Comments (33)

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