Cornbread: Sweet or Savory?

Many a spirited conversation has surrounded this question. Frankly I don’t prefer one over the other, it’s a matter of what I’m making for dinner, which works best with what I’m making for dinner and what my husband is in the mood for with dinner (sometimes he even gets his way LOL!). The sweet vs savory debate is a regional thing, think Mason-Dixon line.

Southerners prefer not to include sugar in their cornbread.

Northerners prefer sugar in their cornbread.

I’ve made many varieties of cornbread over the years, in fact during hurricane Sandy I made it on the stovetop in a cast iron skillet, no oven needed (good thing, since without electricity it was out of commission). But no matter how I make it, sweet or savory, in the oven or on the stove top, my base recipe remains the same. Creature of habit.

So when my mother-in-law asked me to make some mini cornbread muffins for Thanksgiving this year I thought I’d have a little fun and make both a sweet version and a savory version. I’ll be curious to see who likes which. (Mom, if you’re reading this, don’t tell!)

This recipe evolved quite some time ago from a cornmeal package label but at this point it doesn’t really resemble the original recipe much…other than the cornmeal part. It’s incredibly versatile and super easy to make. If you want to keep the mix on hand, simply combine all the dry ingredients minus the ingredient that makes it either sweet or savory – you know, sugar or herb/spice (in this case rosemary) – and store in a container in a cool dry place until ready to use.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy carb for Thanksgiving, this is it.

Ingredients – Base Recipe
1 ¼ cups stone ground cornmeal
1 cup All Purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
½ cup milk
¼ cup neutral oil like canola or grapeseed
1 large egg

For Savory: Add 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary in with the dry ingredients (Thyme would be nice too).
For Sweet: Add ¼ cup sugar in with the dry ingredients.

Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 400°. Grease your 24 well mini-muffin tin (I use cooking spray) and set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk together to blend well.
3. Now you need to make a decision: sweet or savory? If you are going the sweet route add the ¼ cup sugar. If you are going the savory route, add the 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary.
4. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup (that’s what I did) combine the buttermilk, milk, oil and egg; whisk together to blend well.
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir just until combined. Be careful not to overmix!
6. Using a small ice cream scoop or ladle, pour the batter into the muffin tin.
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until lightly golden.
8. Allow to sit in the tin for about five minutes then remove to a wire rack.

Both the sweet and savory are nice served warm but room temperature is perfectly fine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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My Breaducation: #BreakingBread – Scallion Corn Rolls

When it comes to baking bread I’m a novice and to tell you the truth I don’t really know why, except that it’s time consuming and so is the rest of my life and it requires planning and forethought and…

Okay you get the picture. I love bread, especially home made bread and I’ve made it exactly three times in my life. I made a focaccia oh about nine years ago or so in a class I took at Sur la Table, then this wonderful challah last year and now these:

Last month three incredibly talented bloggers, Foodwanderings, Cake Duchess and Cooking with Books started the Breaking Bread Society. I thought, oh what a great idea I really need to join in but May was such an insane month that next thing I knew they posted the June recipe! Sigh. I’m sure I’ll go back and make the inaugural recipe because I REALLY want to get bread into my repertoire and this is a good motivator for my BREADUCATION! (It’s a word, really. You’ll find it in the Deb-tionary, promise). Thanks ladies!

So, each month one of the founders chooses a recipe and shares it with the rest of us to make as is or tweak to make it our own. This month it’s Marnely from Cooking with Books. She chose a recipe from “Artisan Breads“, by Eric Kastel; it’s one she made as part of her breads class at the CIA.

As it turned out, I wound up making this recipe twice. The first time, it seems the yeast had issues. I didn’t get much of a rise and although they came out nice and round, they were very dense. Essentially what I got was a bunch of golf balls:

The second time around was better. The first rise was a beautiful thing.

However I think the second rise could have been better. This was probably my fault. I couldn’t place them in a warm oven to rise this time because I had to preheat it to bake the rolls. Guess my alternative solution wasn’t the best. But despite the fact that they puffed out instead of up they were delicious and not nearly as dense (though not as light as they should have been) as the first batch. We’ll, chalk it up to a learning curve. Third time’s a charm, right? Yes, there will be a third time.

So as part of my breaducation, where do you proof your bread? What constitutes a warm spot? And why do some recipes say let rise in a warm spot and others in a cool spot?

I decided to add scallions to the recipe, omit the fresh corn and add a sprinkling of sesame seeds on top; my little change-ups. Other than that I didn’t stray far from the original, taking a few bits from each version.

If you are a bread baker or are interested in learning, like me, here are the details from Marnely’s site:

“Breaking Bread Society is a group of bakers that focuses on literally “breaking bread” with friends and family over the magic of blogging! Join us as we share recipes and explore new ingredients and techniques in bread baking! Every 1st of the month we’ll be sharing a new recipe and you have the entire month to link up and share YOUR version! Read more about Breaking Bread Society here.”

Savory Corn Rolls
My slightly adapted recipe from The Culinary Institute of America’s “Artisan Breads” by Chef Eric Kastel

Corn Soaker
Note: The total amount of milk needed, 2 3/4 cups, has been split.
1 3/4 cup milk  (amount of milk to add when first mixing)
1 cup medium grind cornmeal
1 cup milk (second addition)

Dough
All of the corn soaker
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup molasses
16.1 oz bread flour
4 oz corn flour (not the same as cornmeal)
1/4 ounce (7 g) 2 1/4 tsp or 1 packet instant dry yeast
1 tablespoon salt
4 scallions, diced (green parts only)
Egg wash (1 egg beaten)
sesame seeds for garnish

Corn Soaker Directions
1. Put cornmeal in bowl of your stand mixer. Carefully bring 1 3/4 cups of milk to a rolling boil and add it to the cornmeal. Let sit in mixture for two minutes. With a paddle, mix for 3 minutes on high speed. Lower speed and add the rest of the milk, making sure to scrape down the bowl.
2. Cover soaker and refrigerate overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours. (I did overnight)

Dough Directions
1. Place the bowl containing the corn soaker in a warm water bath to bring to around 85F.
2. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, place the corn soaker oil, and molasses. Mix for 1 minute. Add the bread flour, corn flour, yeast and salt. Mix for 6 minutes on low speed. Add the scallions and increase to medium speed; mix for 4 more minutes. The dough should be slightly tacky but have good gluten development.
3. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to rest and ferment in a warm place for 45-60 minutes.
4. Punch down the dough and place onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 2 ounce pieces, rounding the dough against the tabletop. Place each dough ball onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet, brush with egg wash and cover with plastic wrap. Ferment for 45-60 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 400F. Egg wash rolls again, sprinkle with sesame seed.
6. Transfer rolls to the oven and immediately reduce temperature to 375F. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking pan.

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