Cornbread

A “Northerner’s” cornbread, it is usually made with yellow corn meal (though a good grainy white cornmeal works just as well), and a little sugar (Southern corn bread recipes often omit sugar). I love to add crisp bacon crumbles or even better – cracklins, if I have the luxury, and softened dried corn (that I “put up” during corn season).

I found this recipe in Bernard Clayton, Jr.’s The Complete Book of Breads, and tweaked it slightly. The original recipe calls for the room temperature butter to be beaten with a fork into the milk and eggs. Frankly, I’m puzzled as to how to beat softened butter into milk and eggs, so rather than risk it my first go at the recipe, I just cut the butter into the dry ingredients, as one would for a pie crust. The result is a moist, tender, delicate cornbread with a wonderful crumb. Also, I bake the bread in a cast iron skillet instead of a baking dish. This gives the bottom a delightfully crisp, browned crust, and the bread a good rise and even bake.

Ingredients
3 Tbsp. dried corn (optional)
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
¼ cup cold butter (½ stick), cut into small pieces 2 eggs
1 cup milk
⅓ cup chopped crisp bacon or cracklins (optional)

Steps

1. Lightly grease a 9 or 10 inch cast iron skillet. Pre-heat the oven to 425 ̊ Fahrenheit.
2. Place the corn in a small bowl or a mug. Add enough very hot or boiling water to just cover and set aside while you mix the batter.
3. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the cornmeal.
4. Cut the butter into the dry ingredients, as you would for pie dough, so that the resulting butter bits are small but visible “pearls”. Beat together the milk and eggs. Add the liquid into the batter, stirring with a wooden spoon just long enough to incorporate the ingredients. Do not over-stir. Drain the corn (reserving the hydrating liquid for rice or soup if you wish). Gently blend the corn and the cracklins into the batter.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared skillet. Let rest 10 minutes.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Do not over-bake or the cornbread will be dry. Cut and serve immediately.

From Chef Kathryn Yeomans
The Farmer's Feast
http://thefarmersfeast.me/

Sarson Ka Saag

Ingredients
1 lb mustard greens and other field greens, coarsely chopped
½ cup water
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 fresh green chili pepper (ex. Serrano), minced
¼ cup cornmeal
½ teaspoon cumin seed, toasted 2 minutes in a hot dry skillet
~ salt
~ butter
~ fresh lemon or lime juice

Steps

1. In a large saucepan, gently simmer the greens in water with the ginger and pepper.
2. When the greens are tender, slowly add the cornmeal and mash the mixture with a wooden spoon. Cook until thickened, 7-10 minutes.
3. Top with butter to taste, lemon or lime juice to taste, and cumin seed to taste.

recipe from Ayers Creek Farm

Bean, Kale, and Polenta Soup

from Ayers Creek Farm newsletter (link):

There are various versions of this classic northern Italian soup, Infarinata, that bring dry beans, cornmeal, and kale together with a bit of pork. In a conversation over lunch, Linda Colwell reminded us that La Jota of Trieste is also a variation on this rustic soup, using sauerkraut instead of kale, and fragrant with cumin. Our friend and former neighbor, China Tresemer, helped us put together this recipe.

The recipe calls for unsmoked but cured pork: guanciale or pancetta, but in a pinch, a piece of salt pork will do. You can make this dish without the meat as well. Likewise, savoy cabbage, rocket or escarole can be used for the greens. For beans, we use Borlotto Lamon which has a deep nutty flavor and pleasant sweetness. The water the bean cooks in yields a delicious broth. There are several reasons why this variety is not more available commercially: Pole beans cost more to grow. The Lamon must be handpicked and has just three or four beans per pod compared to the usual five to seven. It also ripens late, splits in the rain, and is prone to viruses. Mere details, other than that it is perfect, the most glorious of the cranberry beans.

Serves 4

Ingredients
3 cups (525g) Borlotto Lamon dry beans
Water
4 ounces (100g) unsmoked but cured pork, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, minced
1 onion, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 sage leaves, fresh or dried, minced
1 cup canned crushed tomatoes, preferably your own
~ Salt and pepper
8 stalks of kale, collards, or lacinato kale, rib removed, minced
1 1/2 cups (210 g) medium-coarse flint cornmeal
~ good olive oil

Steps

1. Soak the dry beans in plenty of water overnight. Drain the beans, add fresh water to cover the beans by about 2 inches (5 cm), bring to a boil, then turn down the heat, and simmer until tender, 40 to 90 minutes.
2. In a soup pot, sauté the pork in the olive oil until it begins to turn golden. Add the minced carrot, onion, and celery, and sauté gently until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and the minced sage leaves. Add the tomatoes. Cook until the mixture thickens a bit, about 12 minutes. Add salt to taste. Chop the kale leaves and add to the pot. Add the beans and their liquor, topping the soup off with more water to create a good broth. Season with salt to taste.
3. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer. While the soup is simmering, trickle in the cornmeal, and stir occasionally until the polenta is tender, about 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
4. Serve the thick soup in shallow bowls with a good ribbon of the olive oil on top.