Cornbread Yeast Rolls

I absolutely love it when I try something new, not quite sure if it will work out, and end up with fantastic results. These cornbread yeast rolls are the perfect example. I say over and over how much I love cornbread. One of our favorite things to eat it with is super-slow roasted pork, shredded and topped with our favorite Memphis-style barbecue sauce.

The thing about my traditional skillet cornbread is that it's kinda crumbly. Doesn't really hold up as a sandwich bread, especially if you're filling it with luscious, spoon-tender pork smothered in sauce. After dealing with messy cornbread sandwiches one too many times, Mike had enough (I never really tried making a sandwich with cornbread in the first place, so I didn't much care). He asked if there was a recipe that existed somewhere in the wide world of food for cornbread that was better suited for sandwiches, but still deliciously corny.

I enthusiastically affirmed that such a thing does exist, since I've seen yeast cornbread recipes before, most recently here on a blog I read all the time. So, I set out to find a recipe that I could easily adapt to make big, sturdy sandwich rolls. I didn't have far to google before I found this recipe on FoodReference.com. I had no idea if it was reliable, but most of it made sense to me, and it contained all the ingredients I thought were needed to produce a tasty cornbread.

This bread is so delicious! The even crumb is fine and tender, yet sturdy enough that it doesn't turn to mush when it comes in contact with barbecue sauce and creamy coleslaw. Thanks to honey and plenty of corn in the dough, it's slightly sweet and full of corn flavor. Make no mistake, though--this does not have the cake-like texture of a quick bread--it's a sandwich roll through and through.

You can, in fact, bake it as two full-size loaves and slice it for sandwiches, but rolls give you more of that glossy, burnished crust to enjoy. The pork, by the way, is so easy to make, it barely requires a recipe.

Super-Slow Roasted Pork:
Season a 3-4 pound Boston butt pork roast (spice blends are handy for this), wrap it tightly in foil and place in a roasting pan. Roast at 275 degrees for 4 hours (or an hour per pound). You don't have to look at or even open the oven during cooking. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes, then effortlessly shred it up. You can't overcook it, and it's the finest pork roast you'll ever eat. We heard about this cooking method on the radio show (podcast actually), The Splendid Table, a few weeks ago and adapted this recipe on their website.

Cornbread Yeast Rolls
Adapted from this recipe on FoodReference.com
If you love cornbread, but want something different, try these rolls. The recipe is very friendly, so no special knowledge or tricks are required. I used my stand mixer, but I think you could make them by hand with a little elbow grease. When measuring your flour, lightly spoon it into measuring cups and level with a knife.

Makes 12 sandwich-sized rolls

1 cup warm water
1 tbs. sugar
1 (7 gram) packet active dry yeast
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, divided
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 2/3 c. cornmeal
4 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 (7 oz.) can corn, drained well
2 tbs. coarse cornmeal (optional)
1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

Combine the water and sugar in a bowl. Add the yeast and gently stir. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes, or until yeast forms a foamy layer on top of water.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of the whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. Add the yeast mixture and mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed until combined. Add the salt, cornmeal, melted butter, honey, eggs and corn. Continue mixing on medium-low speed until combined.

With the mixer running, add the remaining 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. Continue mixing until you have a slightly sticky dough that pulls away from the sides of bowl. If dough is too wet, add the remaining 1/3 cup of flour slowly until the dough holds together and pulls away from the bowl. I used nearly all of the flour. Let the mixer knead the dough for about 1 minute, then transfer dough to a large bowl, coated with olive oil. Turn the dough over once inside the bowl to coat it all over with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then with a dish towel and leave it to rise in a warm place until roughly doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and sprinkle with coarse cornmeal, if using. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for a few seconds, then divide into two pieces. You can stop here if you want to make two rustic loaves, or you can divide each piece into 6 balls to make rolls. Knead each ball once or twice and place on the prepared baking sheets with seam side down. Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and leave them to rise a second time for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until they puff up noticeably. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Right before you put them in the oven, gently brush the rolls with the beaten egg to add a nice gloss to the finished rolls. Bake for 20 to 25, switching the positions of the baking sheets halfway through. Remove from oven when rolls are golden on top, browned on the bottom and sound hollow when tapped on the base. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.

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Healthy Seafood-Corn Chowder and Whole Wheat-Herb Biscuits

About a week ago, we could not decide what to eat for dinner to save our lives. The best we could do is decide we wanted fish, maybe salmon. Don’t you hate it when you just don’t know what you feel like eating (and cooking)?

Sometimes when this happens, I try to focus on things that I know will taste great no matter what mood I’m in. For me, if a meal involves biscuits or cornbread, life is good. I really enjoy making these quick breads, and since they go best with warm, comforting soups and stews, you suddenly find yourself with the makings of a delicious meal.

I’ve been wanting to try some biscuit variations after seeing some ideas in the November issue of Food & Wine. I decided to makeover my classic Buttermilk Biscuits with whole wheat flour. I added some herbs and some very good cheese, which is a decadent thing in a biscuit that’s already good and buttery. These biscuits have tons of flavor, and are a very different twist on the classic. I’m going to experiment more with them.


As for the Corn-Seafood Chowder, this was one of those recipes I put together on the fly that turned out even better than I’d hoped for. I remembered making a lighter seafood chowder a couple years ago that really turned out well, despite the omission of heavy cream. I used chicken broth and lowfat milk thickened with just a little bit of cornstarch. the texture is great, there is no raw, floury taste, and I promise this chowder does not have any tell-tale “lowfat” qualities--there's bacon after all. And it cooks in about 30 minutes total because there are no ingredients that require a long simmering time--the shrimp and scallops take just 2 minutes at the end!

Just a quick update on the Cranberry-Almond Crostata: Mike took down the last piece yesterday. This tart holds up just fine if you store it at room temperature, well-covered, for 2 to 3 days. I'm loving cranberries these days! I have a Cranberry-Lemon-Walnut Scone recipe to share soon, and there's a cranberry coffee cake I'm dying to bake!

Healthy Corn and Seafood Chowder
In the past, I’ve found the quality of fresh sea scallops at the supermarket to be somewhat uneven. So we recently started buying frozen sea scallops, and they are consistently delicious and sweet with a firm texture. I like the Whole Foods brand, but try what’s available where you shop--fresh or frozen--and see what you think. A good-quality fresh, dried chile powder is important for this dish because it adds not only flavor, but color. Don’t forget a good fistful of Italian parsley to sprinkle over the finished soup. The crisp, herby flavor is a nice counterpoint to the creamy chowder.

5 strips bacon, chopped
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 jalepeno, seeded and diced
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
pinch dried marjoram or oregano
1/4 cup AP flour
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups lowfat milk
1 medium russet potato, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups frozen sweet corn
1 tsp. mild chile powder
2 tsp. corn starch dissolved in 1 tbs. water
1/2 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
3/4 lb. sea scallops, cut into 2 or 3 pieces each
Fresh parsley for garnish

Cook the bacon in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Transfer to a paper towel, leaving about one tablespoon of fat in the pot. Add the onion and jalapeno, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes, or until soft and lightly browned. Add the garlic, thyme and marjoram and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring well to combine. Add the chicken broth and milk. Raise the heat to high and cover until the liquid comes to a boil. Add the potatoes and return to boiling. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes or until potatoes are just tender.

Add the corn, chili powder. Return chowder to a simmer and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Add the shrimp and scallops and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes, or until seafood is opaque and cooked through. Stir in the reserved bacon. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.

Whole Wheat Herb Biscuits with Comté
I use a bit of dried thyme to punch up the flavor of the fresh thyme, which is sometimes not as potent as I like. If you don’t have fresh thyme, you can use 1/2 tsp. of dried thyme total. Comte is a French cheese similar to Gruyère. Either one is a great choice, as is Fontina.

Makes about 8 2-inch or 6 3-inch biscuits

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
7 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and chilled
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1/3 cup grated Comté or Gruyère cheese

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and work it into the flour using your fingers to break up the chunks of butter into slightly flattened bits. At this point, the dough will still be very powdery and should not come together. Add the buttermilk, all the herbs and the cheese and stir gently with a wooden spoon just until all the flour is dampened. If you still have a lot of excess flour, add a few more drops of buttermilk until you have a barely cohesive, shaggy mass of dough--do not over mix. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat it together with floured hands. Flatten into a thick disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to several hours.

While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the disk of dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 1⁄2 inch thick. Use a floured metal 2 to 3 inch biscuit cutter to stamp out as many biscuits as you can, dipping the cutter into some flour with each biscuit and placing on the prepared baking sheet. Collect the dough scraps, quickly re-roll and finishing stamping out biscuits. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve immediately with butter.

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Technorati Tags: recipes, chowder, healthy, corn, Main Course

Corn and Shrimp Pizza with the Best Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Recipe

Recently, we got a pepperoni pizza from Papa John's for dinner. Mike was craving it, and we never order pizza. Our dial-for-dinner days ended when I bought a food processor and figured out how easy it was to make my own crust. Since then, I've just about perfected the recipe, experimented with all sorts of toppings and never looked back.

There's nothing wrong with good old fast food pizza, and I will admit that Papa John's was much better than I thought it would be--I love when thin slices of pepperoni get a little charred around the edges. With the weekly coupons we receive in the mail, I don't think we will let years go by this time before calling the Papa again.

So, has all the time and effort I have spent making my own pizzas been a waste? No way! Here's the thing: the pizza I make and the Papa John's takeout-or-delivery version are two totally different foods--apples and oranges. Papa John's satisfies a craving for nostalgia, taking me back to eating pizza and drinking soda (a special treat!) on Friday nights when I was a kid, or in college on the way home from a bar. My homemade pizza on the other hand represents the way I like to eat now: nutritious, fresh, topped with the flavors and ingredients that I love. You just can't get a pie topped with arugula, figs or sauteed shrimp from the Papa.

The recipe here is one of the favorites that we seem to go back to when we want something different. It is perfect in summer when corn is flavorful and crisp right off the cob and cherry tomatoes are sweet and inexpensive. This is my standard crust recipe, but I often substitute different flours depending on what I have. All-purpose flour will work and so will whole wheat pastry. You could do this with only white flour, but all whole wheat would probably be a little too intense and heavy.

As often as I make pizza, I've only written about it once on the blog. This fig, caramelized onion and prosciutto pizza is one of my favorite meals (the dough recipe in the fig post is essentially the same, but I have simplified and streamlined the directions in the updated version below). Make it now when fresh figs are in season.

One more note on homemade pizza: it sounds a little daunting to proof yeast and measure flour yourself, especially now that you can buy pizza dough in many grocery stores. I promise that once you do this two or three times, it will be the simplest baking you can imagine. It becomes second nature--something you'll start to fit into your day like taking out the trash or defrosting a chicken. You can do it the night before or if you are at home during the day, make the dough at lunch time and let it do its rising while you go about the rest of your life. Active prep time for this dough is 10 to 15 minutes, including cleanup. Even if you're on a first name basis with the pizza delivery kid, I'm betting you will get addicted to your own homemade creations after a couple of go-rounds.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
This recipe makes enough for two pizzas, each one serving 2 to 4 people, depending on how hungry you are and what else you’ve got going. The dough is thin with a chewy, slightly crisp texture. I love that I can make dough once and freeze half so that my next pizza is as effortless as defrosting the dough. My method for measuring flour by volume is to fluff it up, then lightly spoon it into measuring cups without packing it down or shaking the cup causing it to settle. I always eyeball the oil and honey measurements. This recipe could also be made by hand or in a stand mixer.

1 1⁄4 c. warm water
1 tblsp. granulated sugar
1 package dry yeast
2 c. whole wheat flour (I like King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat Flour)
1 1⁄2 c. bread flour (I like King Arthur Bread Flour)
1⁄2 tsp. salt
1 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for coating the bowl
1 tblsp. honey

Pour the water into a bowl, add the sugar, then gently stir in the yeast. Let it sit for 5 to 8 minutes or until the yeast forms a foamy layer on the surface of the water. Meanwhile, add the flours, and salt to a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse to combine. Add the olive oil, honey and yeast mixture. Process until the dough comes together, forming a ball. This should only take about one minute. If your ingredients get stuck, you may need to open the lid and move them around a bit so they can come together properly. Lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and lay a kitchen towel on top. Let it sit in warm, non-drafty place until the dough doubles in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured cutting board and knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Divide the dough into two equal balls. Let the two balls of dough rise for the second time on the cutting board, covered with a kitchen towel, for an hour and a half. Knead each piece 2 or 3 times, then proceed with the pizza. At this point, you can also refrigerate the dough in a Ziploc bag to use within 24 hours, or freeze it to use within 3 months.

Another option, especially if you are making the dough before bed or in the morning before work is to let it rise for the second time in the refrigerator, well-covered, for at least 8 hours, after which you can knead it for a few seconds, transfer it to a Ziploc bag, and keep it for use that day or freeze it. Always bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

To make the pizza: Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornmeal on a large rectangle of parchment paper. Flatten one ball of dough into a disk, place in the center of the parchment paper and roll it out with a flour-coated rolling pin to form a large oval, about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle more cornmeal around the border of the dough, if desired. Cover with your toppings to within 1/2 to 1 inch of the edge. Use the parchment to lift the pizza and place the parchment directly onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through (the bottom of the dough should just barely take on some color). Transfer pizza to a cutting board, discarding parchment. Let it rest for 5 minutes, cut and serve.

Shrimp and Corn Pizza
Note: special equipment that I use for cooking homemade pizza is parchment paper and a pizza stone. The directions for rolling out the pizza are repeated here so that both recipes may be used independently.

1/2 tbs. olive oil
1/2 lb. medium or large shrimp, shelled and deveined
salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tbs. coarsely ground cornmeal for dough (optional)
1 cup grated fresh mozzarella cheese
fresh corn kernels, cut from 1 to 2 ears
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (just under 1 pint)
1 red bell pepper, cut into very thin strips
6 scallions, white and light green parts, thinly sliced

Place a pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper and cook until opaque, turning once, 2 to 3 minutes total. Transfer the shrimp to a cutting board and chop into 2 or 3 pieces each.

Sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons of cornmeal on a large rectangle of parchment paper. Flatten one ball of dough into a disk, place in the center of the parchment paper and roll it out with a flour-coated rolling pin to form a large oval, about 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle more cornmeal around the border of the dough, if desired.

Top the dough with the cheese, corn, tomatoes, shrimp, bell peppers and scallions. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper to suit your taste. Use the parchment to lift the pizza and place the parchment directly onto the pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until cooked through (the bottom of the dough should just barely take on some color). Transfer pizza to a cutting board, discarding parchment. Let it rest for 5 minutes, cut and serve.




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