Cornmeal Archives - Passionate About Baking

{Baking} CORNMEAL DROP BISCUIT PEACH COBBLER … for times when the mason doesn’t show up!

“There’s your karma ripe as peaches.”

Jack Kerouac

Even while the hammers rain blows down, and the kitchen is in shambles, I have a list of things to do. A cobbler was on my must bake list before the stone fruit season bid us adieu. It’s been bookmarked ever since I saw it on Leites Culinaria when I stopped by attempting to try and bake a recipe off the site for a photography competition. This cobbler was high on my list, until Monsieur Lebovitz’s Absolute Best Brownies knocked me off my perch!

Not one to stay knocked off for so long, I was soon winging my way back to my must bake list. We’ve had some minor issues while the kitchen renovation goes on … stuff like minor flooding {never touch the plumbing if it works fine!!}, and then a day with minimal work done when the mason took a rainy day off! For me, minimal work being done was a golden opportunity to get down to baking. If the mason doesn’t show up, it’s cobbler time!

Cobbler is a traditional dish in both the United States and the United Kingdom, although the meaning of the term is quite different in each country. In the United States, it is usually a dessert consisting of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a rolled pastry dough, then baked in an oven. In the United Kingdom it is usually a savoury meat dish, typically a lamb casserole, which is covered with a savoury scone-like topping, each scone (or biscuit) forming a separable cobbler. Fruit-based versions are also increasingly popular in the United Kingdom, although they still retain the separate cobbler (or biscuit) topping of the meat version, and savoury or meat versions are not unknown in the United States. The Crisp or Crumble differ from the cobbler in that the cobbler’s top layer is more biscuit-like. Grunts, Pandowdy, and Slumps are a New England variety of cobbler, typically cooked on the stove-top or cooker in an iron skillet or pan with the dough on top in the shape of dumplings; they reportedly take their name from the grunting sound they make while cooking.

Jeanne @ Cooksister had an Apple Pecan Cobbler posted just recently, and I knew the time had come. for me to try the peach cobbler. This was one fruit dessert I hadn’t tried so far. A fridge full of peaches, a few plums too, soon I had a pie dish full of fruit. I chopped the peaches instead of slicing them, all done in haste, but cobbler I made! It’s not a beautiful thing to photograph, but I took a shot. I love the rustic fruity look the cobbled top offered, somewhat like a mosaic, with colourful fruit and juices peeping through. I threw in some pistachio nuts in the biscuit topping, just to add to the taste and, maybe colour!

This particular recipe is from the cookbook The Lee Brothers Simple Fresh Southern by Mat & Ted Lee. Very ‘Simple, Fresh and Southern’ as the book title goes, it is a versatile one too. I added a few plums for colour with the peaches. I think like in most cobblers, apples, blackberries, blueberries etc all work wonderfully under the drop biscuit crust. The fruit juices get cooked and combine with the sugar to form a thick syrup which rises above the biscuit edges to give a cobbled stone like appearance. The cobbler was rustic beautiful and moorish, and full of bursting good flavours.

I’m glad I made the cobbler. It was delicious and ever so fruity. Mr PAB said, ‘What is this ‘thing’ Deeba? It’s delicious!‘ The daughter said, “I love this mushy, ugly thing. Can I have some more?”, and the son loved it too, especially the biscuit crust {anything with butter is!}. I served it chilled because it’s still summer here and we’d rather have cold dessert than warm. Also, chilling it meant that all the fruit juices thickened up nicely and the flavours matured. Of course, it wasn’t very picture-worthy, but heck… My first cobbler was downright delicious, and is off to the Food Photo Competition @ Leite’s Culinaria!

Cornmeal Drop-Biscuit Peach Cobbler
Recipe from Matt and Ted Lees book, The Lee Brothers Simple Fresh Southern

Adapted minimally from recipe @ Leites Culinaria

For the peach filling

1 kg ripe peaches, stoned , chopped {or sliced}

3-4 plums, stoned, chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar {or more, depending on your peaches and your sweet tooth}

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the biscuit dough

3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour

1/4 cup fine cornmeal

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pistachio nuts, shelled

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon iodized salt or fine sea salt

3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for the baking dish

1/2 cup cold buttermilk {I used low fat}

Method:

Preheat oven to 220C. Butter a 9″ pie dish

Place all filling ingredients in a large bowl, and toss to mix well. Allow to stand for ten minutes while you make the drop-biscuit dough

Drop-biscuit dough

Place the flour, cornmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, pistachio nuts and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse for a few seconds till the nuts are chopped fine, and the mixture blended. Add the butter and give 2-3 short pulses till the butter cuts through, and the mixture becomes like coarse meal with pea size bits of butter. Add the buttermilk and stir with a rubber spatula just until a tacky, wet dough comes together, which should take no more than a few seconds.

Gently plop spoonfuls of the biscuit dough on top of the peach filling or, if the dough is too sticky to plop, simply spread it unevenly. The dough should be patchy and should not cover the entire surface of the filling.

Bake until the cobbler’s syrup is bubbly and the biscuit top is alluringly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

Scoop the warm cobbler into small dessert bowls, ramekins, even cocktail glasses. Serve warm.

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MOROCCAN HOLIDAY BREAD…BAKING FOR A WORTHY CAUSE… "YES WE CAN"!

“It isn’t bread that feeds you; it is life and the spirit that feed you through bread.”

Angelus Silesius

Moroccan Holiday Bread

…The addition of maize meal & a cornucopia of seeds gives this superb loaf an interesting flavour & texture.

Sunday morning woke up with a mission; BAKE BREAD! There was no meal idea in mind, the morning loomed large, the kids were out of bed & running wild…& I had to bake bread. While the kids squabbled over the remote & hot-house eggs (which I shall blog about another day), I emptied my bread baking bookshelf onto the table & wondered where to begin. Winter is almost here, the weather isn’t warm enough for a confident rise in yeast…yet, I had to bake bread. I juggled a couple of choices … a Tuscan Schiacciata, a Greek Olive Bread, Portuguese Corn Bread…& eventually settled for a Moroccan Holiday Bread. I had all ingredients on hand, just enough time for the dough to double & rise again…& a bag of sunflower seeds to use. Happily enough, by sheer coincidence, the bread belonged to Morocco, a country in North Africa.

What’s the fuss about? Why bake bread on a Sunday morning with the kids running wild? Actually, time was running out. I’ve been tagged to bake bread by Jeanne @ Cook Sister. Yes, the South African blogger, nibbling at the world, based in London, but found all over the globe at amazing speed. She’s a trained criminal lawyer, & now an avid photographer & food blogger. More about this interesting lady here. I was touched & thrilled to be tagged by her for a cause close to her heart…read on

BAKE BREAD – GIVE DOUGH – FEED AFRICA!

Breadline Africa is a South African-based charity that is seeking to put a lasting end to poverty South Africa (and further afield in Africa) by breaking the cycle of poverty and helping communities to achieve long-term self-sustainability. Breadline Africa was founded in 1993 when a group of community and social workers in South Africa (who had first-hand knowledge of the uniquely African problems that they faced) formed an alliance with like-minded colleagues in Europe (who were well-placed to source donations in valuable foreign currency). Armed with this unique combination of skills, Breadline Africa has been able to raise funds in Europe and use their local knowledge to identify which small, ground-level projects in Africa are most likely to succeed with a financial boost.

On Blog Action Day, Breadline Africa launched their Worldwide Blogger Bake-Off campaign. The aim is to raise $1 million in funds for a project to convert shipping containers into locations for food production and distribution in Africa. It is hoped that these sustainable community kitchens will not only provide food such as bread and soup to those in need, but also opportunities for skills development within poor communities.Bloggers can download the Blogger Bake-off widget and tag five other bloggers to do the same – I am tagging these five to bake bread:
Val @ More Than Burnt Toast
Aparna @ My Diverse Kitchen
Manggy @ No Special Effects
Rosie @ Rosie Bakes a Peace of Cake
Nuria @ Spanish Recipes

If you want to get involved in the Blogger Bake-off, check out their website here.

YES WE CAN…there is such great optimism in these 3 words. Ever since I heard Barrack Obama’s speech, the words have stuck to me. Three words, such great hope. They can move people, a nation, the world! Yes we can…bake bread & change the world too!

MOROCCAN HOLIDAY BREAD

Adapted from ‘The Practical Encyclopedia of Baking’, by Martha Day , pg 483

(Classic Breads From Around The World)

Ingredients:

Flour – 1 1/4 cups

Maize Meal/Cornmeal – 1/4 cup

Salt – 1 tsp

Yeast – 1 tbsp

Lukewarm water – 100ml (orig. recipe has 120ml/4fl oz)

Lukewarm milk – 100ml (orig. recipe has 120ml/4fl oz)

Sugar – 1 tsp

Sunflower seeds – 4 tbsps

Black sesame seeds – 2 tbsps

White Sesame seeds – 2 tbsps

Method:

Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment.
Sift the flours & salt into a bowl.
Cream the yeast in a 100ml warm water + 100 ml warm milk, with a tsp of sugar. proof for 5-10 minutes.
Pour into the flour mix & make a fairly soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth & elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap & leave to rise in a warm place, until doubled in size, for about an hour.
Turn out on a lightly floured surface, knock back, & gently knead the seeds into it. eave a few seeds for sprinkling on top. Shape into a loaf (original recipe has a round ball), flatten slightly, & place on prepared sheet.
Leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 200C.
Brush the top of the loaf with water, sprinkle seeds on top, & bake for 30-35 minutes until it’s golden, & makes a hollow sound when tapped. (I placed a bowl of water under the tray, & spritzed the oven twice).
Transfer to a rack to cool. We had it warm, & it was wonderful. Tasted great on it’s own, & even better with a brush of butter. The kids loved it too, both without, & later, with butter!

I’m sending this to Susan @ Wild Yeast for her ongoing event ‘Yeastspotting.’

MAKE MINE SAVOURY…A GALETTE WITH A DIFFERENCE!

“He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. ”

Henry David Thoreau

Savoury Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Galette

The happy feeling the rustic Peach & Plum Galette gave me was indescribable. High on confidence, I decided to venture further & make what I would possibly love … a savoury version of sorts. Donno what the purists of the pastry world would call this, forgive me if I have erred, but I called this a savoury galette.

Since it’s screaming the colour RED, am sending this off as an entry to Sunshine Mom for her event Food In Colour.

Her colour of choice for the month of August is RED!!

There was spinach & cottage cheese in the fridge which I very much wanted to use, & was in the mood for some sort of experimentation. I used my giant flower shaped cookie cutters to cut out the 6″ shapes…great opportuntiy coz I don’t think I would contemplate 6″ cookies otherwise! A 6″ circle cutter, or a platter would work as a guide beautifully too.

My permutations worked well!! The daughter & the rest of us LOVED these…

…though the lad preferred it without spinach, which defied the very purpose of nutrition & adding the blessed leaves! Sadly enough, the Popeye magic doesn’t work anymore, so I tried to pass off the spinach tucked underneath as basil! The son pulled every bit out ( though I made him eat the bits)…who did I think I was trying to kid anyway!! Aaaaaaargh!!

The boy loved the sans spinach small bites that I made with the left over dough scraps. Cut them out in shapes of small flowers & hearts!

Savoury Spinach, Tomato & Cheese Galette
Ingredients:
Topping:
Cottage Cheese – 200 gms
Spinach – 1 bunch; tender leaves / chopped
Nutmeg – 1/2 tsp; grated fresh
Garlic – 2-3 cloves ; chopped
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Tomatoes – 3-4 sliced
Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
Baby Gouda Cheese or any cheese of your choice
Fresh basil for garnishing

Dough:
Coarse Cornmeal – 1 cup
Flour – 2 1/4 cup
Dried mixed herbs – 1 tbsp
Sea salt- 1 tsp
Butter – 3/4 cup , chilled; cut up
Buttermilk – a little less than 1/2 cup

To make the dough:

Combine flour, cornmeal, herbs and salt in a processor; pulse 2-3 times. Add butter and pulse 4-5 times, or until mixture resembles coarse meal.
With the processor running, slowing pour the buttermilk through the chute, processing until the dough forms a ball. (Stop adding buttermilk when it begins to clump up around the blades. My dough got a bit sticky so I had to add extra flour in the end. Worked fine eventually.)
Remove the dough ball and adhere any remaining pieces of dough to it, then divide into 2 balls, wrap in plastic & refrigerate for an hour.

For the topping, heat oil & saute garlic. Add spinach leaves, nutmeg & generous sprinkling of salt. Saute till the spinach wilts. Allow to cool a bit & then leave in a colander to get rid of the extra liquid; otherwise the pastry will get soggy.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll out the dough a thin or thick as you like. I like my pastry thin, as I like my pizza base. I got 6 6″ flower/circle shapes out of each ball. If you like the base thick, you’ll get a generous 4 out of each ball. Use the remaining pastry to cut out smaller shapes. Alternatively, you can make savoury petit fours as finger food with the entire dough. Place the pastry on the prepared baking sheet.
Spread a little spinach on the cut-out base. Grate cottage cheese all over, leaving a 1/2″ border around, top with tomatoes, grate some Gouda, mozzarella or cheddar etc, season with sea salt & freshly ground pepper. garnish with fresh basil.
Bake at 200 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

AMAZING MAIZE & CORNY COOKIES

“I am still convinced that a good, simple, homemade cookie is preferable to all the store-bought cookies one can find.”

James Beard

Bowled over by Cornmeal Pistachio Cookies

Then comes along one of those looooong lazy summer days where you want to bake something & for once you’d rather it wasn’t chocolate. It happens to me at times after a chocolate overdose in the kitchen. Something different has to be attempted; something which has a chance of turning out unexpectedly good or even bad, but different. Have started throwing caution to the wind & have begun treading on uncharted territory. Read on for my tale of good…& then bad, as in disastrous! It happens… & now I’ve reached a stage where I do not weep copious tears. Onto the good first…cookies made out of cornmeal with my favourite nut, the pistachio!

It’s nice to experiment with different grains, & coincidentally found a post on different grains at Food Blogga @ Susans‘…‘How Many Whole Grains Can You Name? Hmmm…test your knowledge there; I was surprised to hear of so many whole grains! A little about corn…the word “polenta“ can be used to refer to the ground cornmeal itself, or to a prepared dish after boiling cornmeal with water. Corn is a good source of vitamin B1, vitamin B5, folate, dietary fiber, vitamin C, phosphorous and manganese.

Maize, also known as corn, is one of the most extensively cultivated cereal crops on Earth. Originally, the term “corn” could refer to any type of grain. When maize was brought back to Europe, it was called “Indian corn,” a reference to the source of the plant. The term was shortened to “corn” as maize became ubiquitous in many gardens. In Africa, it is known as ‘mealies‘.

I’ve adapted these cookies from The Great Big Cookie Book…a book that keeps me endlessly entertained . The original cookie is the ‘Sultana Cornmeal Cookie’…little yellow biscuits from the Veneto region of Italy. I didn’t used sultanas coz the boy won’t touch them anymore…so I substituted them with pistachios. Made a nice chunky cookie with a crunch to it! I didn’t have Marsala, so used vanilla extract instead. Go ahead & use Marsala…am sure they’ll taste wonderful! Made some nice biscotti with cornmeal too, but will post that another day…

Chunky Cornmeal Pistachio Cookies, adapted from The Great Big Cookie Book, pg 86
Ingredients:
Finely ground yellow cornmeal – 1/2 cup
Plain flour – 3/4 cups
Baking Powder – 1 tsp
Pinch of salt
Butter – 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar – 1/2 cup
Eggs – 1
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp (or Marsala – 1 tsp)
Pistachio nuts – 1/2 cup; roughly chopped
Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.
Sift the cornmeal + flour + baking powder + salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter & sugar; beat in the egg, followed by the extract/Marsala.
Add the dry ingredients & pistachio nuts & stir until well blended.
Drop heaped teaspoonfuls & bake 12-15 minutes till cookies are light golden.
Cool on racks. The cookies will continue to harden as they cool.

My almost ‘poifect‘ Macaroons a la espresso

Looks can be deceptive. Take a look at my almost perfect macaroons, no cracks & beautiful from above. But somethings missing…. This brings me on to my great disaster…which was my ‘Blueberries on the ceiling’ type of a moment for me. Having seen some great macaroons @ Cherrapeno & macarons @ Homemades, I naively got tempted into making these frightening things. The beginning was great & I was very impressed at the perfect creatures that I piped out. Left them to dry for an hour as the recipe suggested….looks good eh? What do you say?

So far, so good…

Popped them into the oven to bake & went off to do a chore for a couple of minutes & heard a shriek from the son, ‘There’s something alive in the oven…& it’s bubbling!!”. Almost had a heart-attack, but raced with macaroon-like poise to see all the cookie batter bubbling away merrily, in an ocean like gooey slime in a witches cauldron, & little macaroon caps floating on top. I was too shocked to take pictures then, but did manage to salvage all the airy (literally full of air) tops! Take a look…

Disaster. What lay beneath my very airy macaroons…just air!!

Can’t imagine what happened coz I followed the recipe to the t. Any clues anybody??? My only regret was the waste of precious almonds & my dreams of an opera macaroon floating away. The kids were too happy to oblige & quickly devoured the light left-overs. To make something out of nothing, am gonna send this off to Food Nerd who is graciously holding an appropriate event...“Blueberries on the Ceiling” is your chance to write about your most disastrous (and hopefully hilarious) kitchen mishap.

Tag: Cornmeal

{Baking} CORNMEAL DROP BISCUIT PEACH COBBLER … for times when the mason doesn’t show up!

MOROCCAN HOLIDAY BREAD…BAKING FOR A WORTHY CAUSE… "YES WE CAN"!

MAKE MINE SAVOURY…A GALETTE WITH A DIFFERENCE!

AMAZING MAIZE & CORNY COOKIES

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