Hot, buttered cornbread muffins with a smear of Swedish-made Lingonberry Jam.
Last night I had a hankerin’ for baked bread. Not just the taste, but the smell cooking in the oven. But it was 6 p.m. and no time for yeast and dough rising and rolling. So I did the next best thing: I made a batch of cornbread.
I know. . . I know, you’re disappointed I didn’t find a way to make yeast rolls in 18 minutes, but I haven’t uncovered that secret yet. So I went with this cornbread. It’s so easy. Just a matter of putting together the dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt) with the wet (egg, milk, oil). A mix would even shorten the time, but this is a no-fanfare recipe you can make with pantry items.
Keep It Quick and Easy
I’d been scanning recipes from the famed chef, restaurateur, and cook book writer, Alice Waters of Chez Pannise in Berkeley and her one-time acolyte Chef Austin Leslie, whose menus always included the humble fare.
Just out of the oven. This small batch recipe from Chef Austin Leslie (Chez Helene’s) is perfect for 1-2 people.
As I assembled the ingredients, I realized i had no muffin tins; they were all at the farm. Then I come upon this crumpled, disposable tin, that for some reason, I’d saved. It worked fine and within a half hour, I had me a platter of hot cornbread muffins, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Alice also suggested including 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese to the batter and sprinkling some more atop each muffin before baking. In my haste, I neglect the addition, but it would be a good one for variety.
Now I have some blueberries in the fridge. If I can squeeze one more use from this bedraggled muffin tin, I may bake and freeze another batch of muffins—this time blueberry muffins.
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