In November, we start thinking about heirloom foods: pumpkin, turkey, cranberries, etc. But what about corn? People have been eating it for over 10,000 years. So, it is an ancient food.
Today, we mostly eat it on the cob at home: grilled or boiled. Or maybe you cut the kernels off and make creamed corn. But, there is so much more you can do with it can just eat it on the cob. Here are a few ideas….
Fresh Corn
- Corn chowder
- Corn salsa
- Okra, corn and tomato salad
- Corn souffle
- Corn fritters
Corn meal
- Shrimp and grits
- Southern style cornbread
- Hushpuppies
- Polenta
- As a batter for fried green tomatoes, okra or fish
- Spoonbread
And that’s just for starters.
Today, I am making something that’s a cross between Southern-style cornbread and a corn cake. And instead of using yellow corn meal, I am using heirloom red corn from Oaxaca, Mexico.
I could only find dough and not flour. So, I had to dry it in a food dehydrator. And next, I ground it with my food processor. But, if you can find flour, the process will be much easier. This company sells it. But, it is not cheap. That is why I did it myself. It is mostly waiting for it to dry, very hands-off.
I dried the dough for six hours at 95 degrees. Then, I put the racks in the fridge for two days to let it dry a bit more. From there, you can grind it up in a food processor. My flour was a bit chunky, so I sifted it three times.
Once you have the flour, making the recipe is the same as a normal cornbread recipe. But, here are a few variations, if you are feeling adventurous.
- You can make this bread in a cast iron skillet. Just preheat the skillet for 30 minutes with a bit of high smoke point oil in it.
- If you want to add some sweetness, add 1/2 cup of sugar.
- If you want a fluffier bread, use cake flour instead of all-purpose.
- Finally, you can sub out any kind of cornmeal you have on hand: white, yellow, blue.
I chose to add the sugar and use cake flour for a sweeter and fluffier bread. The result is more like a quick bread or almond cake. It makes something great to have as a coffee cake in the morning. I also frosted mine with a lemon cream cheese frosting.
Check out the recipe below. I hope you enjoy.
Recipe
Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
2 cups cornmeal
1 tablespoons baking powder (heaping)
1 tsp salt
1 stick butter
4 eggs
2 cups milk
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Sift dry ingredients together and combine
- Melt the butter
- Mix the eggs and milk into the butter
- Make sure the wet ingredients are room temperature
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients into a batter
- Pour the batter into a greased cake pan
- Bake for 20-25 minutes
- If you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean, the bread is done
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