Sweet Potato Buttermilk Cornbread

It finally happened.
I used a Paula Deen recipe.

Sigh.

Now, up until a few weeks ago, I had nothing against the woman. Sure, she was the instigator of the famous doughnut cheeseburger, which probably wasn't doing anything for the nation's waistline. But, hey, I'd seen undergraduates come up with equally as fiendish (and disgusting) food inventions.
Anthony Bourdain's various invectives against her also brought out the sympathy vote in me. Yes, she used lots of butter in her recipes.
But Tony, what do you think is making all those Michelin-starred dishes so delicious? Carrots?

But her recent admission of having Type 2 Diabetes and her concurrent endorsement of a diabetes medication was off-putting. She had sworn on the "harmlessness" of her food for years. Her admission to a potentially life-threatening disease and simultaneous money-making scheme was a bit much.

But still. There's no denying. She knows southern food. And when it comes to cornbread and the Super Bowl, you gotta go Deen.

And that's exactly what I did. And I was more than happy with the result. The sweet potato in this recipe gives the bread a nice smooth and moist earthiness. It balances out the cornmeal in lovely lovely ways.

So did I feel slightly hypocritical in using her recipes, subscribing to the media blitzkrieg that has surrounded her in the last few weeks? Sure.
But hey, that cornbread was delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

¼ cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup butter

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

1 ½ cup peeled and grated sweet potato

Method


Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with two forks, a pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture is crumbly.

In a medium mixing bowl beat egg until frothy. Stir in buttermilk and sweet potatoes. Pour mixture into flour mixture stirring just until blended. Pour batter into greased 9x9x2 inch baking dish.

Bake 25 minutes or until center springs back when pressed (my version took about 35 minutes). Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into squares and serve.

Pear-Hazelnut Quick Bread

 

Who doesn't love quick bread? It's bread. More quickly. My mother has been lusting after this flavor combination for some time (don't ask me about a certain pear-hazelnut cake that I have promised to make her), but this quick bread was able to mollify her for the time being.

It's ridiculously simple and open to plenty of variation. Being the lazy cook I am, I refused to peel the hazelnuts, even after I toasted them. I don't think it took a thing away from the overall bread. If anything, I think it made it nice and "earthy".

The hazelnuts on top are also a good touch, both for eating and viewing purposes.

Makes either one large loaf or 12 muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour (or whole-wheat flour)
1 cup all purpose (plain) flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground allspice
2 large eggs
1 cup nonfat/lowfat buttermilk
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups diced peeled pears (about 2)
1/2 cup chopped toasted hazelnuts, plus more for topping

Method

Preheat oven to 400 F for muffins and 375 F for a large loaf. Coat pan with cooking spray.

Combine the first eight ingredients in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, butter, oil, and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bit by bit, stirring until just combined. Add pears and hazelnuts. Stir until just combined (don't overmix).

Transfer batter to the prepared pan. Top with additional hazelnuts, if desired.

Bake until golden brown, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 22-25 minutes for muffins, about 1 hour for the large loaf. Let cool in the tin (15 minutes for muffins, 45 minutes for a loaf) before turning out onto a wire rack.

Olive and Rosemary Fougasse

Fougasse, that bizzarre French version of Italian focaccia, remains the pinnacle of bread for me. Discovered by accident but loved for years, the soft pull-apart quality of fougasse can't be beat. Years ago, I stumbled upon a recipe for the bread by none other than Raymond Blanc, featured in one of his "inept but lovable" cooking programs on the BBC. His recipe reflects the kind of chef he is: it took hours and required 8 ingredients that no one would normally have in their kitchen (rye flour, anyone?). But, because of my love, I hunted down each and every last ingredient, confident that the recipe would produce absolute marvels. And, to be fair, it did. Sure, it took 14 hours to make (get that starter going the day before!), but the rewards were more than ample. Delicious, delicious bread.

But the energy required in making the bread put me off the prospect of repeating it for years. It was only last week that I decided to brush off the old recipe and give it another whirl. Yet, in the intervening years, I had forgotten just how rare some of the ingredients were. When a morning dash to the local Tesco yielded no rye flour, I was stuck up the proverbial creek.

And that's when Epicurious came to my rescue. With only minimal effort, I was able to find a fougasse recipe that took far less time to prepare (ok, fine, it still takes 4 and some hours, but that's practically fast food compared to the Raymond Blanc recipe). Sure, I was taking a risk (I was supposed to serve the bread at a dinner party that night), but fortune favors the bold, so I went with it, adding in my favorite ingredient combination of rosemary and olives to the basic recipe.

And who would have thought? The recipe came out perfectly. Wonderfully soft and doughy, but with enough firmness to the crust, I was in fougasse heaven. Of course, by that point, I had invested in the rye flour just so I could have some on hand, in case the day ever came that I needed Raymond's recipe again. But this recipe was so delicious, I may never see the need. Sorry, Raymond.

Yield: Makes 2 loaves
Active Time: 45 min
Total Time: 4 1/2 hr

Ingredients

For starter
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup warm water (105–115°F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-oz package)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For dough
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons table salt
1 jar of pitted black olives, diced
2/3 cup water
3 tbsp rosemary, chopped
1/3 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil (preferably French) plus 1 tablespoon for brushing
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
1 1/2 teaspoons flaky or coarse sea salt

Method
Make starter:

Stir together sugar and warm water in bowl of mixer. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If yeast doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)

Whisk flour into yeast mixture until combined well. Let starter rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, 30 minutes.

Risen dough, after 1 1/2 hours

Make dough:

Add sugar, salt, 3/4 of the olives, water, 3/4 of the rosemary, 1/3 cup oil, and 11/4 cups flour to starter and beat with a wooden spoon (or, is using a mixer, at medium speed) until smooth. Mix in remaining 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, sprinkling surface lightly with flour if dough is very sticky, until smooth and elastic (dough will remain slightly sticky), 8 to 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled large bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Pat out each half into an oval (about 12 inches long and 1/4 inch thick), then transfer to 2 lightly oiled large baking sheets.

Using a very sharp knife or a pastry scraper, make a cut down center of each oval "leaf," cutting all the way through to baking sheet and leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cut. Make 3 shorter diagonal cuts on each side of original cut, leaving a 1-inch border on each end of cuts, to create the look of leaf veins (do not connect cuts). Gently pull apart cuts about 1 1/2 inches with your fingers. Let dough stand, uncovered, until slightly puffed, about 30 minutes.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.

Brush loaves with remaining tablespoon oil and sprinkle with sea salt along with the rest of the olives and rosemary. Bake, switching position of baking sheets halfway through baking, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 35 to 40 minutes total. Transfer loaves to a rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Blue Cornbread

There are a few things that I've brought with me from my home state of Arizona. A tortilla press. A precious bag of ground chiles of various heats. And a full bag of blue cornmeal, pride of Arizona farmers. The English seem not have realized  but corn in America comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, and, most importantly, colors (yes, yes, beyond the various shades of "yellow" and "white"). Any harvest festival will feature the ubiquitous "Indian corn", which features a fabulous variety of dark purples and reds. But there is also the famous "blue corn", found almost exclusively in Arizona and New Mexico, which is so dark on the cob that it almost looks purple to the naked eye. When ground into meal it gives tortillas and breads a wonderfully nutty quality, a bit more earthy than any other kind of cornmeal I've ever experienced.

I don't use my blue cornmeal often (although I technically I need to before its "sell by" date), but Thanksgiving is the perfect excuse to show the Brits a thing or two about American corn. And what better  way than with cornbread, another typically American concoction? Like biscuits, there are about a thousand and one recipes for cornbread, some involving actual corn kernels, some just sticking to the meal itself. I decided to pick one that emphasized just the cornmeal. Once the Brits decided that the blue coloring in the bread WASN'T mold, it went down a treat. Of course, there's no real reason for blue cornmeal in this recipe, plain ol' yellow cornmeal will work just as well. But, if you do happen to have some of the blue stuff lying around, why not use it?

Ingredients

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups cornmeal (preferably stone-ground and most preferably blue)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk (not powdered)
1 large egg

Method

Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.

Whisk together cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

Whisk together buttermilk, egg, and melted butter in another bowl, then stir into flour mixture until just combined.

Scoop batter into a well-oiled loaf or cake tin (mine was 9" diameter). Bake until puffed and golden-brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in tin for about 10-15 minutes. Turn out onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Spiced Brown Sugar Carrot Bread

Well, I've finally done it. I gave in to the power of the veg box. No longer will I trawl the aisles searching desperately for fresh swede, tomatoes, or spinach. No, no. Every Tuesday, like clockwork, a very nice man deposits a very large box of farm-fresh vegetables outside my doorstep. Alongside any other little niceties I've decided to order from them that week. Which has recently included squash, bread, and even a pumpkin for Halloween. Just to make my veg box people (Abel & Cole) extra-loveable, they have a habit of including free things each week with their delivery. This week was milk. Bless them.

But with the powers of the veg box come great responsibilities. The household now has more fresh nutritious vegetables than it often knows what to do with. We have heaps of onions. Bags of potatoes. Gallons of spinach. And acres upon acres of carrots. This has produced more than a few glorious stir fries, but you can only use so many carrots in one stir fry before things start to go...a bit orange.

So what better way to use up all the bounty of the earth than to make quick breads? Carrots are particularly fabulous for this purpose, and considering that we're moving into the winter season, they are wonderfully warming. Despite the fabulous successes of previous carrot bread recipes, I went out on a lark and took the first one I could find from the Internet. I was particularly struck by the use of cardamom in the recipe. So, why not? Come on Food & Wine, show me what you got.

And, oh yes, that worked quite nicely. The crispy brown layer of sugar on the top makes this bread particularly more-ish, and the inclusion of cardamom is a nice subtle layer that doesn't override the other traditional flavors of vanilla and cinnamon. I do however highly recommend making sure you have greased your pan adequately. Despite loving attention to detail, my bread refused to unstick from its loaf tin moorings, resulting in far more crumbs and bite-size pieces than standard "slices". Ah well, still tastes great.

Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cups packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 1/4 cups shredded carrots (about 7 ounces)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat 1 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or grease and lightly flour the pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Add the oil in a thin stream, beating at high speed until the batter has doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in the shredded carrots. Beat in the dry ingredients at low speed in 3 batches, mixing well between additions.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, filling it two-thirds full. Bake in the middle of the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning them out onto a rack to cool completely.

MAKE AHEAD Wrap the bread tightly in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 2 months.