Cornbread-Chorizo Stuffing

I've talked about my love of cornbread many, many times, but this is my first ever cornbread stuffing. Why? Because all the recipes I came across seemed too rich, too bread-y, just too much. Then Mike put the idea for cornbread stuffing in my head last week, and a couple days later I saw this recipe in Gourmet.

This stuffing is straightforward, incredibly tasty and a lot less heavy (read loaded with butter) than most stuffing recipes of any kind. You absolutely need to make the homemade cornbread, which is a snap. It's also one of the nicest southern-style cornbreads I've tried.

My go-to skillet cornbread uses a combo of stone ground cornmeal and flour for a tender, not too crumbly texture. I had tried all-cornmeal versions, but they were just too quick to fall apart. In this recipe, an extra egg and plenty of buttermilk solves that problem, resulting in an all-cornmeal bread that you could eat on its own with butter.

So, my first cornbread stuffing was hugely successful, although I think it could be the centerpiece of a meal by itself--who needs turkey? Be sure to read the recipe headnote regarding chorizo. I would have just included links to the original recipes, but I liked these so much, I wanted to record them here for easy retrieval! One last tip: the leftovers were great with a fried runny egg.

Cornbread-Chorizo Stuffing
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, Nov. 08 (original)

The success of the stuffing utterly depends upon the homemade cornbread. Luckily, it’s easy and may be made a day or two ahead. Spanish chorizo is cured and ready to eat, as opposed to Mexican chorizo, which is fresh and must be cooked. Failing to find Spanish chorizo at our supermarket, we used Niman Ranch fully cooked chorizo from the refrigerator case. It’s not authentic to either country, but because it is such a lean, high quality product, it worked wonderfully—probably better than the real thing! If using a product like this, there’s no need to remove the casing.

Serves 6

Skillet cornbread (recipe follows)
1 Tbs. canola oil
5 oz. Spanish chorizo, casing removed and sausage chopped
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped (about 3 cups)
3 celery ribs, coarsely chopped (2 to 2 1/2 cups)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 Tbs. chopped garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 2 to 3-quart shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Cut the cornbread into approximately 1/2-inch pieces and spread them out in a single layer on 2 sheet pans with sides. Bake for about 20 minutes, or bread is dried out, switching positions of the pans and tossing the bread about halfway through. Cool and transfer to a large bowl.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add onions and celery, season with salt and pepper, and continue cooking until vegetables are tender, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook 2 minutes more. Add to cornbread.

Whisk together broth and egg, then pour over cornbread mixture and toss well. Transfer to baking dish. Coat a piece of foil with nonstick spray and cover baking dish tightly. Bake in upper third of oven for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake until top is golden, about 15 minutes more. Stuffing mixture may be prepared up to 1 day ahead; add broth and egg just before baking.

Skillet Cornbread
Adapted from Gourmet magazine (original)

If you don’t have a cast iron skillet, you can still make your own cornbread, but it won’t have the same crispy, browned edges. Just melt the butter in the microwave and bake the bread in a buttered pie plate.

1 1/2 cups stone ground yellow cornmeal, preferably medium-grind
1 tbs. sugar
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups cups well-shaken buttermilk (do not use powdered)
3 Tbs. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and heat a 9- or 10-inch cast iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes.

Whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs and buttermilk.

Take the hot skillet out of the oven (careful, handle is HOT) and add the butter. Return to the oven until butter melts. It may brown a little, but watch closely so it doesn’t burn. Remove the skillet from the oven, swirl the skillet to coat the sides with butter, and pour the excess butter into the egg mixture. Whisk well.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir them just until combined. Pour into the hot skillet and return to the oven. Bake 20 to 24 minutes, or until light golden brown spots appear on top and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack, then remove cornbread from skillet.

Cranberry Sauce with Pears and Ginger

I had a two-day Thanksgiving feast this past weekend. I'm going to celebrate the actual holiday in Connecticut with family, but since Thanksgiving food is so fun to cook (and eat), I like to do a meal for me and Mike. That way, I get to try out whatever recipes I want, and we get to have our own leftovers!

Of course, having this blog is also great motivation to do a Thanksgiving trial run. In the next week, I'll post all the recipes I tried this weekend. One fabulous cornbread stuffing recipe came straight from Gourmet magazine and another was an online find, but the rest are originals. Everything we made was delicious, and I'm glad I decided to go all-new, rather than repeating any old favorites (like this chestnut stuffing).


The first one I'm posting is this cranberry sauce that I put together after reading many other cranberry sauce recipes. None were quite what I wanted. This uses slightly less sugar than the norm, but it's not at all too tart. The sweetness gets balanced out by the savory flavors of diced jalapenos and garam masala. The prominent flavor of fresh ginger is fantastic and completes the slightly Indian vibe.

I'm not sure which recipe from the weekend is my favorite, but I have to say that we loved this cranberry sauce. It's my favorite ever. Mike said it was "really interesting," and he meant that as a big compliment--which I loved! It's also great on sandwiches or, honestly, just eaten with a spoon.

Cranberry Sauce with Pears and Ginger

The spice of the fresh ginger is the big flavor in this not too sweet cranberry sauce. If you don't like the taste of fresh ginger, use half the amount. Garam masala is a mild Indian spice blend that you can find at ethnic markets and large supermarkets. This is a quick recipe, but it requires 3 hours of chilling time (you can always speed things up with the freezer though).

12 oz. fresh or frozen defrosted cranberries
1 pear, cored and chopped into 1/3-inch pieces
1 Tbs. finely minced fresh ginger
2 small jalapeno chiles, seeded and finely diced
1/4 cup water
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 Tbs.)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. salt

Add all ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook 7 to 9 minutes, or until cranberries pop, pears soften and mixture thickens. Stir often to prevent sticking on the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a serving dish or storage container and chill uncovered for 3 hours. May be made up to 2 days ahead; cover after 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Quick and Easy: Spaghetti with Tuna-Tomato Sauce and Seared Scallops

I’m back from a long, fun weekend in New York City. We did tons of walking, including across the Brooklyn Bridge on a gorgeous sunny afternoon (needed to burn off those dim sum calories!). We also saw a well done exhibit at the Whitney museum on Alexander Calder, which I’d highly recommend.

I won’t bore you with more details, except for my three favorite food things on the trip:
1) duck prosciutto, and espresso-flavored Amber beer at Vintage Irving (plus a fantastic firm goat cheese). Sorry, that was 3 already.
2) Lamb with pita-yogurt sauce at Limon, the best Turkish restaurant ever (that it’s tiny, quiet and BYOB makes it even better).
3) Bacon-Caramel Pumpkin cupcake at Batch (and the lemon-yuzu was great too).
Oops, make that 4: fried baby artichokes at Morandi. No batter, no breadcrumbs, just lemon juice.

Now, it’s time to cook a few healthy meals after all that eating out, and gear up for Thanksgiving. This recipe accomplishes the first goal. It's so easy. Considering how tasty it is, the easiness defies logic. I was craving that fishy, salty je ne sais quoi flavor you get when you mash a few canned anchovies into your garlic when starting a sauce—the way you do for spaghetti Puttanesca. You’d never know it was anchovies, but the depth of flavor is wonderful.

Anyway, I didn’t want Puttanesca; I wanted something simpler. Then I though of just adding good, olive-oil packed tuna to prepared tomato sauce. I got exactly what I was hoping for. I enhanced the plain sauce with sautéed garlic, and added my tuna. It was the perfect amount of sauce to thoroughly coat the spaghetti without making a pool of watery red. Fresh flat-leaf parsley is mandatory for some herbal freshness, and that’s it.

You could eat the pasta just like that, but I latched onto the seafood theme and put fat, seared scallops on top. I love cooking scallops now that I know the secret to a good, golden sear: completely dry scallops (drain them, use a paper towel, do whatever it takes!) and plenty of oil in the pan. Unfortunately, you can't get a great look at the sear in that photo--Mike went crazy with the cheese! Restaurants probably use ample butter and/or oil to get that beautiful caramelization, but you really only need a couple tablespoons of fat unless you pan is enormous.

Now, I’m trying to decide what kind of Thanksgiving side dishes I want to try this weekend. Are you breaking with hallowed tradition and trying a new recipe this year? Is there something new that intrigues you? Let me know, and I’ll see if I can possibly work it in. I haven’t cracked open most of the November issues of all the food magazines, so I’m in for some fun research!

Spaghetti with Tuna-Tomato Sauce and Seared Scallops

The tuna makes this pasta a viable meal on its own, but it is also a really nice base for scallops, shrimp or steamed mussels. If the sea scallops at the market are really huge, you only need 3 per person; otherwise buy the greater amount. I can’t stress enough the two keys to golden, caramelized scallops: making sure they are completely dry and using enough fat in the pan. The sauce takes about 2 minutes to put together after you drain the pasta, so finish the scallops just before it’s time to drain the spaghetti. You can cover them with foil to keep warm, if you like.

Serves 4

For spaghetti:
3/4 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
Salt
1 Tbs. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-8oz. can tomato sauce
1-5oz. can tuna in olive oil, gently drained
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

For scallops:
2 Tbs. olive oil
12 to 16 fresh sea scallops, thoroughly patted dry with paper towels
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside. Reduce heat to low and add the oil to the same pot you cooked the spaghetti in. Add the garlic and cook until golden, stirring constantly. Add the tomato sauce and flake the tuna into the pot. Add the hot spaghetti and stir until nicely coated with sauce. Remove from heat and season with pepper. Serve with a handful of parsley and grated cheese.

While pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large, heavy (to maintain even heat) skillet on medium-high. Season one side of scallops with salt and pepper and place in skillet, seasoned side down. Sprinkle more salt and pepper over the unseasoned side and cook without moving the scallops until deep golden brown. Turn, and cook opposite sides until color is deep golden brown and scallops are just barely cooked through. They can be slightly pinkish in the center, but over cooking makes them rubbery. You can slice one to check until you get the hang of it. Serve over spaghetti.

Favorite Things: Blueberry-Cornmeal Pancakes

These are my favorite pancakes. While plain-jane buttermilk pancakes are okay, I really love them with just about any embellishment--fruit, whole grains, ricotta, citrus. But these are the absolute best. The recipe is simple, with buttermilk, stone ground cornmeal, whole wheat flour, lemon zest and a smattering of blueberries. Maple syrup is a must.

Like I said, this is a simple recipe. It's your basic buttermilk pancake formula, so to make sure they're as exceptional as they should be, use good stone ground cornmeal, like Bob's Red Mill. The medium grind is just right (this is the stuff I use for cornbread and biscuits, even cake, so buy a bag--it's versatile). Also use buttermilk rather than regular milk or milk soured with lemon juice. The buttermilk has a unique consistency and makes these pancakes, moist, tender and light, not heavy and dense.

Yet another great thing is that you can use frozen blueberries that have been thawed and patted dry. Of course you can use fresh ones too, but I love making these any time of year. Those are all the tips I can possibly offer--the rest is easy!

I did celebrate my birthday last weekend, by the way, but I decided to forgo a big, gooey cake and save myself for next weekend. We're going to celebrate my 30th with a little trip to New York City and do some serious festing. Skipping the cake worked out well because that left room for pancakes!


Cornmeal-Blueberry Pancakes
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated magazine
I prefer medium ground cornmeal for these pancakes. Whole wheat pastry flour helps with their light texture, but white whole wheat or all-purpose also work well. You can use fresh blueberries when they're in season.

Makes about 16 4-inch pancakes

2 cups frozen blueberries
3 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups stone ground cornmeal
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1 lemon
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup water
Cooking spray

Rinse the blueberries in a colander to help them thaw. Spread on a paper towel, pat dry, and set aside to finish drying.

Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg. Finely grate the zest from about three-quarters of the lemon and add to the egg (reserve lemon for another use). Whisk buttermilk, water and melted butter into the egg mixture. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Gently stir until just combined. If mixture is very thick, add 2 to 4 additional tablespoons of water.

Preheat a large skillet on medium-low to medium heat. Coat generously with cooking spray. Pour 1/4-cup portions of batter into skillet, spreading slightly if needed. Dot pancakes with blueberries. Cook until bubbles begin to appear in batter and bottoms of pancakes are golden brown. Flip and cook until opposite sides are golden and pancakes are cooked through. Coat with additional cooking spray for each batch. Serve right away with maple syrup.

And the winner is...

Starre from Arizona! I only have time for a quick post today to announce the winner of the latest book giveaway. To enter the contest, I asked readers to leave a comment about what they like to eat for lunch, since I'm out of ideas for the midday meal.

The random number generator chose Starre to receive a copy of Mediterranean Fresh by Joyce Goldstein. Starre's lunch pick? An apple with peanut butter and some dates on the side. While I'm not a huge apple person, I love peanut butter, and I literally always have dates in my pantry--so she and I have some tastes in common.

Congrats, Starre! Send me an email and I'll have your book on its way.

So what's up next? I'm busy trying to figure out what kind of birthday cake/dessert I want for my birthday this week. If you have a fabulous suggestion, traditional or not, send it my way. When it comes to desserts, I am very good at crippling my decision-making abilities with far too many options!

October Book Giveaway: Mediterranean Fresh

It's time to give away another book! As I write that, I realize my birthday is 1 week away. Turning 30 is...fine. I'm actually too busy to get philosophical about it. The closest I've come to deep thoughts on aging is carefully conducted research into my skin care options. Which is kind of fun.

Last week, a clerk at the grocery store gave me what I can only describe as a verbal sneer as she demanded my I.D. for a wine purchase. Like she was disgusted by this 14 year old in front her trying to buy alcohol. When she saw my driver's license, she apologized and went on and on about how I look young for my age (but not young enough to be sneered at, seriously). She may have been a little wacky--or rude, if you want to get technical--but I'll take it:)

Now about this book: Joyce Goldstein's Mediterranean Fresh: A compendium of one-plate salad meals and mix-and-match dressings --pausing to catch my breath-- has a long subtitle. But, it only sort of sums up the recipes. If you think a book of salad recipes would get old, you'd be right. Luckily, this book uses the most expansive definition of "salad" available. It encompasses salads like Baba Ganoush (the Middle Eastern eggplant puree), shredded carrot salad with citrus dressing, lentil salad with chorizo, and collard green salad with yogurt dressing.

These salads could be mains, sides or appetizers. Some are meatless, some aren't. Roughly the first two-thirds of the book is composed of the salad recipes divided into various categories. The remainder is a collection of dressings that will delight anyone who prefers their food with something drizzled on top. I like how she points out that some dressings double as dips and some start out as something else entirely--think pesto, tapenade, harissa. These three examples are actually sauces or spreads that may be converted into dressings.

As before, I'll be giving this book away through a random drawing. Here's how you enter:

1) Leave a comment telling me what you typically have for lunch on a workday. I have been so tired of lunch lately, and I want to know what other people do. Yesterday I had one and a half pieces of whole grain toast with butter, cottage cheese and black pepper. Sounds weird, really tasty. But not much of a lunch.

2) Tell me your first name and your city. You must be located in the continental U.S. to win. Sorry, snail mail is pricey!

3) Leave your comment by Sunday, October 26, at 6 pm eastern time. The winner will be selected at random and posted by Monday, so check back to find out if it's you! Then email me your address so I can send your prize.

A copy of Mediterranean Fresh was generously provided by the publisher, W.W. Norton.

Popovers

If you've never had straight out of the oven popovers, you don't know what you're missing. With just eggs, milk, flour, salt and butter, you get big puffs with a crisp exterior and an airy center. Actually, if they work out for you, there isn't much substance in the center--just thinly stretched pieces of the eggy, cream puff-like dough. If you've had gougeres, that's probably the best comparison, but these are airier, thanks to that popping effect.

I used to make them according to a recipe in King Arthur Flour's Baking Companion, which calls for mixing in a blender. This is easy for sure, but the King Arthur bakers recently re-jiggered their recipe and discovered that whisking the batter by hand makes the puffiest popovers. I came across the King Arthur blog describing the results a few days after Mike and I screwed up a batch of popovers by inaccurately halving it and ended up with leaden shells rather than light, crisp puffs.

It was total serendipity that I came across the King Arthur blog on the topic, and we tried them again the next weekend, this time with the correct measurements and the whisking method. Perfect popovers! The picture above looks just like the ones on their blog, where you can see the difference in puffiness with 3 different methods.

But aside from all the little details of my popover adventures, I just want to make one thing clear--you have to try these sometime! Sure you could make homemade dinner rolls with yeast and hours of rising time and kneading and shaping. Or you could just whisk together 5 ingredients and get a really delicious accompaniment to your meal. I love these as a starch with steak and salad or fish and roasted veggies. And plan for 2 or 3 popovers per person--they are very easy to eat (with butter, naturally).

The only thing to consider is coordinating the rest of the meal so you don't have to open the oven more than once (quickly) while they cook. It helps the popovers reach their fullest potential. Otherwise, there aren't many simpler ways to make a dinner feel special. After all the great fall cooking ideas you guys suggested in the comments for my last giveaway, I figured I should contribute something too!

I'm linking to the popover recipe on King Arthur's website. I followed it as written, but was just a little heavy-handed with the salt--as I tend to be when baking. They specify King Arthur flour in the recipe, but I used another brand and it worked great (but I do generally recommend all the KA flours).

I'm going to do another cookbook giveaway this week, so stay tuned! Remember, you can always sign up to receive new post delivered to your email box, so you won't miss anything. Just type your email address in the box below my picture in the left sidebar.