The Cornbread Gospels (22 page)

Authors: Crescent Dragonwagon

3.
Combine the eggs and sour cream in a medium bowl, whisking together well. Using the bare minimum of strokes possible, combine the egg mixture with the flour mixture. Scoop into the prepared muffin tin. Bake until golden and firm, about 20 minutes.

O
H
, H
AVE
Y
OU
S
EEN THE
M
UFFIN
M
AN
?

What exactly a muffin is depends on where you live, and when you lived there.

In England, until recently, a muffin was made of yeasted dough, as in (no-brainer) English muffins. Griddle-baked, formed in a round ring, it rose higher than pancake-like crumpets. It’s this type of muffin, split, toasted, buttered, and served hot, to which novelist Evelyn Waugh referred when he said, “I think muffins one of the few things that make the English winter endurable.”

During the nineteenth century, muffin sellers (the muffin men of the famous children’s song) traveled the streets in English cities, trays of muffins on their heads, ringing large bells to summon customers. The bell-ringing became such a nuisance that in the 1840s muffin men’s bell-ringing was prohibited by an Act of Parliament.

In Colonial days American muffins were almost identical to English ones. But over time muffins in North America became an entirely different breadstuff. With the advent of baking powder and baking soda instead of slow-acting yeast, muffins became “quick” breads. And once bakers began baking them in an oven, in deep cuplike tins, instead of griddling them, they became the recognizable precursors of today’s muffins.

What of the word “muffin,” so cozily appealing that it is sometimes used as a term of affection? There are two possible points of origin: it’s probably either from the Low German
muffe,
or “cake,” or the Old French word
moufflet,
an adjective used to describe the quality of certain breads, meaning more or less “soft.”

A
TLANTA
–S
TYLE
F
LAT
-T
OP
C
ORN
M
UFFINS

M
AKES
2
DOZEN MUFFINS

The first time I had these, in an Atlanta tearoom, I was perplexed by their simplicity, accustomed as I was to sweeter, more high-rising muffins. But these pure cornmeal (no flour) muffins, like other unadorned Southern–style cornbreads, grew on me.

Dry and crisp around the edges, flat, unsweet, they’re intended to be eaten with, or crumbled into, something soupy—a bowl of beans, a cup of tomato-vegetable soup. Trust me, these will grow on you, too. Faster than fast to make, they’re a good breakfast muffin, buttered or not and half crumbled into the yolk of your sunnyside-up egg.

2 teaspoons butter

2 cups stone-ground cornmeal, preferably white

1 teaspoon salt

Vegetable oil cooking spray or butter, for greasing the muffin tins

1 cup milk

1 egg

1½ teaspoons baking powder

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bring 2 cups water to a boil and place the butter, cornmeal, and salt in a large heat-proof bowl.

2.
Pour the boiling water over the cornmeal mixture, stirring or whisking well until lump-free.

3.
Spray or butter one 24-cup or two 12-cup muffin tins, greasing them very well. (If you want to go all out, place a tiny chip of butter in the bottom of each muffin cup, too.) Put the prepared tins in the oven to heat up.

4.
Combine and whisk together the milk and egg (I just pour 1 cup milk into a 2-cup measuring cup, break the egg into it, and beat with a fork). Pour this into the moistened cornmeal, and whisk very well.

5.
Sprinkle the baking powder over the batter, then whisk it in thoroughly. The batter will be very thin for a muffin batter; don’t worry.

6.
Pull the hot muffin tin from the oven using oven mitts, and quickly divide the batter among the cups (since it’s thin, I use a smallish ladle to do this). Pop the tin back in the oven (remember, it’s still hot) and bake until the muffins are quite brown around the edges and slightly browned in the middle, about 25 minutes. Let the muffins cool at least 5 minutes; they’ll come out of the pan much more easily.

N
OTE
:
If you wish, make 12 muffins now and save the remainder of the batter for tomorrow. Cover and refrigerate the leftover batter, then, when you’re ready to bake it, sprinkle an extra
teaspoon of baking powder over the top, whisk it in, and follow the same drill, ladling the batter (it will be a little thicker today) into the heated greased muffin tin.

N
EW
W
ORLD
P
UMPKIN
-P
EPITA
-P
OBLANO
M
UFFINS

M
AKES
12
MUFFINS

Moist and deeply golden, these muffins are medium hot, studded with fire-roasted poblano peppers (roast, peel, and seed them before you start) and capped with an optional, very intriguing spicy, savory streusel topping. Pair them with something equally spicy or spicier, such as a chili, or let opposites attract: accompany them with a creamily bland leek and potato soup, or split pea–tomato soup.

What to do with the single cup of canned pumpkin you’ll have left over from this recipe? Why, use it in the Uncannily Good Santa Fe–Style Quick Green Chile Soup-Stew on
page 321
, of course.

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 batch Sweet-Hot Cheese Streusel Topping (optional,
recipe follows
)

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup unbleached white flour

¾ cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal

¼ teaspoon salt

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

¾ cup buttermilk

⅓ cup dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly, or mild vegetable oil

¾ cup cooked pumpkin or winter squash purée (fresh, canned, or frozen and thawed)

2 fire-roasted poblano peppers, peeled, seeded, and finely diced

⅓ cup tamari-roasted pepitas (optional; see
Note
)

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with oil.

2.
Prepare and set aside the streusel topping if using.

3.
Combine all the flours, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl, stirring well. Set aside.

4.
Now whisk together the egg, buttermilk, sugar, butter or oil, and pumpkin in a medium bowl.

5.
Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture until not quite blended, then add the poblanos, with just a couple of strokes, so the mixture is just barely combined. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin. If embellishing with the streusel topping, divide it evenly over each cup. If not using the streusel, divide the pepitas evenly, sprinkling them over the tops of the muffins, pressing the seeds in lightly with your fingertips.

6.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

N
OTE
:
Pepitas are roasted pumpkin seeds, extra-good when roasted with tamari soy sauce instead of salt. They are available at natural foods markets. You can sometimes find a tamari-roasted pepita–sunflower seed mix, too, which you can feel free to substitute.

S
WEET
-H
OT
C
HEESE
S
TREUSEL
T
OPPING

E
NOUGH FOR
12
MUFFINS

1 teaspoon butter

¼ cup (1 ounce) finely grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3 tablespoons unbleached white flour

⅛ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

⅓ cup tamari-roasted pepitas (see
Note
)

Cream together the butter and Cheddar cheese, then cream in the brown sugar. Cut in the flour and cayenne. Add the pepitas. Reserve this crumbly mixture. Sprinkle each cup of muffin batter with a portion of the streusel. Bake as directed.

“Sometimes, I would come to my field in the evening and stay all night because the porcupines were eating my corn. I’d sing all the way up and down the rows. My dad said that this corn is like children: You have to sing to it, and then it will be happy.”

—E
LDERLY
H
OPI FARMER,
QUOTED BY
M
ICHAEL
A
BLEMAN,
FARMER AND AUTHOR OF
Fields of Plenty: A Farmer’s Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It

H
IGH
D
ESERT
B
LUE
C
ORN
M
UFFINS WITH
S
AGE AND
T
OASTED
P
INE
N
UTS

M
AKES
12
MUFFINS

Sage, an herb said to bring clarity and focus, has a strong flavor that can be intoxicatingly heady or excessive. Here, it is subtle and gently enticing. It’s easier to cut sage with scissors than mince it with a knife: Just stack the sage leaves, scissor once or twice lengthwise, then cut crosswise to make tiny ribbons. Blue cornmeal is widely available in natural foods markets, but you may also order it online from
www.wareaglemill.com
,
www.bobsredmill.com
, or
www.cookingpost.com
.

Dissolving the baking soda in the buttermilk makes for an especially tender-textured, almost cake-like muffin. Serve these with any green chile–accented stew and dream of Taos.

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup stone-ground blue cornmeal

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1¼ cups buttermilk

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

½ cup unrefined sugar (see Pantry,
page 356
) or brown sugar

⅓ cup melted butter, cooled slightly, or mild vegetable oil

1 tablespoon finely scissored fresh sage, 7 to 9 medium leaves

½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

1.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with oil.

2.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl, stirring well. Set aside.

3.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and baking soda, dissolving the baking soda and admiring the slightly dramatic foaming. Now whisk in the eggs, sugar, melted butter or oil, and sage.

4.
Stir the combined wet ingredients into the dry mixture, until just barely blended. Then add the pine nuts with just a couple of strokes. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin.

5.
Bake until the edges are golden brown and the caps are high and rounded, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve hot.

“Get outen the way, ol’ Dan Tucker,
You’re too late to get your supper.
Supper’s done and the dishes washed,
Nothin’ left but a piece of squash.”

—“O
LD
D
AN
T
UCKER
,”
A
MERICAN FOLKSONG

W
HOLESOME
G
INGER
-P
EAR
M
UFFINS WITH A
L
EMON
G
LAZE

M
AKES
16
MUFFINS

This wondrous fresh ginger muffin rises from my long-held conviction that pear and ginger are a perfect pairing (whether in sorbet or pear butter), as are ginger and lemon, and lemon and pear. All three together—wow! The pears can be on the verge of overripe. You could add a few tablespoons of chopped toasted walnuts or almonds to these as well.

As always when using grated citrus fruit zest, try to use organic, since the nonorganic are heavily sprayed (the theory being that people don’t eat the rind and therefore stuff not suited for human consumption can be used with impunity).

Vegetable oil cooking spray

4 ounces fresh gingerroot, unpeeled, cut into chunks

½ cup sugar

1 teaspoon corn syrup (optional)

1 cup unbleached white flour

1 cup stone-ground yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup oatmeal (rolled oats)

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs