Cornbread with Corn Nut Streusel & Candied Jalapeno

I’m a jealous woman. The other day, my husband came home raving about a cornbread he had at a BBQ place. “It was so moist! There were bits of corn in it! It was a little sweet, but not too sweet!”

Well why don’t you marry this cornbread then???

I knew then that I’d have to make my own cornbread -- uber moist, bejeweled with corn, and a perfect balance of sweet and savory -- and give it a unique twist. A head-turning cornbread that leaves all other cornbreads in the dust.

Twist #1: Creamed corn instead of whole corn kernels. Creamed corn adds extra moisture and silkiness. Plus the corn kernels aren’t too big and jarring, they’re already soft and supple.

Twist #2: Corn nut streusel. I had a vision of a cornbread coffee cake. But what to put in the streusel? Nuts seemed out of place, but I wanted some crunch and depth. Enter corn nuts.

Twist #3: Candied Jalapeno. The cherry on top. The shaving of truffles. The nail in the coffins of all those other cornbreads (see: jealousy, above).

The husband pronounced it the best cornbread he’s ever had.

Mission accomplished!

RECIPE

Makes one round 9” cornbread

Cornbread

½ cup fine cornmeal
½ cup coarse cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted and cooled  
1 can of creamed corn (14.75 oz)

Streusel
½ cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
¼ cup corn nuts (I used Incan Corn for this, which are bigger, starchier corn kernels. Either work!)
3 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces and room temp

Candied Jalapeno
1 cup water
2 cups sugar
4 jalapenos

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or spray a 9” cast-iron skillet or pie plate.

To make the cornbread, mix cornmeals, flour, salt, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the honey, eggs, butter and creamed corn. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients until just incorporated.

To make the streusel, add all ingredients into the food processor and pulse until chunks form and everything is well incorporated.

Spread streusel on top of cornbread and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the center is firm and a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

To make the candied jalapeno, add water and sugar to a saucepan and heat on medium-high, stirring occasionally. Slice jalapenos, removing seeds. When all the sugar is melted, add the jalapenos. Simmer on medium-low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest until the cornbread is done.

When the cornbread is done, remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes or longer. Strain the candied jalapenos and add to the top. Serve with leftover jalapeno syrup.

TIPS & TRICKS

• The streusel and jalapenos make this a bit of a project, but the cornbread itself is super easy. You can do all the prep in 5 minutes.

• I am a very messy cook, so I try to minimize messes whenever I see an opportunity. One trick -- instead of using multiple mixing bowls, just mix in your measuring cup. I add all my cup measurements first. Say that’s ¼ cup sugar and ½ cup milk. I’ll add the sugar first, then fill with milk to the ¾ cup mark. Then add all your non-cup measurements, like things measured in teaspoons or singular units (ex: eggs, juice of one lemon). Bingo! You were going to dirty the measuring cup anyway, but now you’ve saved yourself one bowl (at least).

• If you don’t have time to cool your melted butter, no worries. Simply add colder ingredients first to temper the heat. Then add the eggs. If the butter is too hot, it will cook the eggs.

• Keep the seeds in the jalapeno if you want to keep them hot!

• You’ll most likely have extra jalapeno syrup. Save it! Once you strain it, it will keep in the refrigerator for 3 months. Use it for a limeade, smoothie, or cocktail. I’m partial to grapefruit juice, mezcal, and this jalapeno syrup. Muddle some cilantro in there if you’re feeling frisky.

Cooks vs Cons Round 1: Polenta Gnocchi with Creamy Corn Soubise

When Geoffrey Zakarian announced we had to make pasta for the first round of Cooks vs Cons...I wasn't very excited. 

I'll occasionally eat pasta when I'm out to dinner, but I rarely make it at home and when I do, it's always dried pasta or sometimes pre-made fresh ravioli. I know I must make fresh pasta. This has been ingrained in me after years of watching cooking shows. 

But I do have one pasta recipe up my sleeve: gnocchi. With some adjustments, I thought I could make it a 30-minute version, with some extra time for a dynamic, complex sauce. 

My first trick was adding polenta to the dough. Usually pasta dough needs ~30 minutes for the gluten bonds to form, but I had no such luxury. So I added instant polenta, which creates instant dough "glue". Bonus points because corn is the surprise ingredient and of course polenta is cornmeal. 

My second trick was to make an onion soubise. I first had soubise at Momofuku Ko, in a now-iconic poached egg with caviar and potato chips dish. A soubise traditionally calls for softened onions and cream or bechamel. But what about using corn as a not-too-rich thickener?? I gave it a try, and it worked! 

And finally, corn and pasta are both soft and starchy. Where's the pop? So I added chipotle puree to the dough, along with ground annatto seeds for color. I swapped the traditional Parmesan with Mexican cotija, to keep with the Mexican flavors. I also added some tortilla chips and popcorn for texture. 

This was a tough round, especially since I don't really make or eat pasta. But these gnocchi may make it into my everyday rotation...

POLENTA GNOCCHI WITH CREAMY CORN SOUBISE RECIPE

Gnocchi: 
¾ cup ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons grated cotija cheese
2 tablespoons potato flour
1 ½ tablespoons instant polenta
1 ½ tablespoons flour + extra for rolling
2 tablespoons chipotle puree
1 tablespoon ground annatto seeds
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk
semolina flour for gnocchi dusting
salt 

Soubise: 
2 tablespoons butter
2 large Vidalia onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
¾ cup heavy cream
1 cup of corn
salt / pepper

Garnish:
cilantro
tortilla chips
popcorn
sumac
chili powder 

Sandwich the ricotta between four paper towels to soak up excess water. Salt your pasta water and bring to a boil. 

Melt butter in a saute pan. Slice onions and add, along with cumin, oregano and salt. (If you want to do this under 30 minutes, I recommend using a mandolin to sweat the onions faster. Slice the onions directly over the pan.) Sweat the onions until semi-translucent, about 7 minutes. 

Mix the ricotta, cotija cheese, potato flour, flour, polenta, chipotle puree, annatto and eggs. Form into a dough. Roll into snakes a little wider than your finger and cut into 3/4" slices with a bench scraper. 

Add the sauteed onions to a blender and add the cream, corn, white wine vinegar and salt to taste. This is your creamy corn soubise.

Add the gnocchis to the salted boiled water. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon when they float at the top for about 30 seconds. 

Place gnocchi in a bowl and add onion soubise plus cilantro, sumac, chili powder, more corn, sumac, crushed tortilla chips, and chili powder. Or not! The judges weren't fans of all the fixins, and I kind of agree. But at home, it's up to you. 

Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins and Madeleines

I couldn't live without them. One thing -- two ways. 

The blush/lip stain. The work-to-cocktail cami. The primer-color-top coat (actually, not sure this exists?). The more things you can put into one thing, the better. 

It's true, things will get lost in translation. When I was a kid, I thought I could make my own Pert Plus, and mixed shampoo and conditioner. Why not? 

Well, it doesn't always work that way. You'll have to adapt a little. Add some bronzer along with the cheek stain. A blazer with the cami. 

And so it was with this lemon-blueberry-cornmeal batter. I made the madeleines first -- cakey and plush, something not-too-sweet to have as a snack. The muffins have more of a golden crackle to them.

Or think of it this way: the muffins are like a bread's crust and the madeleines are the fluffy inside. Both the same thing, and conveniently, pleasingly different.

RECIPE: (adapted from this Epicurious recipe)

Note: I used whole wheat flour and very coarse cornmeal for this recipe. If you want something less of-the-Earth, you can use all-purpose flour and a finer-grained cornmeal. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt 1/2 stick butter and cool. In a large bowl, mix 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 cup coarse yellow cornmeal, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of lemon zest. 

In another bowl, mix melted butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, and 2 large eggs. Add to flour mixture and whisk until well blended. With a rubber spatula, gently add 3/4 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries.

For madeleines: Butter and flour your pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are just slightly golden on the top. 

For muffins: Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Spoon batter into muffin tin and sprinkle top with turbinado sugar. Bake for 20 minutes (for small muffins... larger ones will need more time).

Blackened Summer Salad

Summer in NYC is not normal, both in the "regular" and "consistent" sense of the word, and in also in the "standard" and "expected" sense of the word.

You might spend a day sunning dreamily in Prospect Park, then in a disturbingly balmy and fragrant subway platform. You might spend two days on the beach, then five days in a freezing office.

Many New Yorkers leave the city on the weekends, true. And sometimes the city can feel pleasantly sparse. Until you hit all the summer tourists.

This dish's ingredients say summer -- corn, basil, tomatoes. But the preparation says something else -- it's deep and charred and moody. It's NYC in the summer.

RECIPE: Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Mandolin one red onion. Slice kernels from one ear of corn. Drop in two handfuls of grape tomatoes. Toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for 40 minutes, until tomatoes burst and the veggies char. I use this stoneware tray that retains heat.

Take out of the oven and put in bowl. Add pesto and chopped parsley. Serves 1 as the main attraction, 2 as a side.