So Much Leftover Cornbread...What to Do?

Stuffed Peppers

 

One thing about in-house recipe development...you end up with a lot of leftovers.  I ate so many Hoppin' John Cornbread Muffins the other day.  I decided that in an effort to not waste food, I'd better think of a way to repurpose them.  Stuffing seemed obvious.  I wasn't in the mood for a traditional holiday dressing.  Rather, I did a spin on an Italian classic and stuffed green peppers with some revved up cornbread.  How'd you do that, Ashley?  Oh, I'm glad you asked.  I crumbled up some muffins in a bowl just with a fork.  I'm sure I could have thrown the cornbread in a food processor, but the fork seemed simple enough.   I added cranberries, shredded smoked Gouda cheese and extra virgin olive oil.  I didn't add a lot of oil.  Just enough to moisten it up a bit.  About a tablespoon per jumbo muffin.  Once I removed the tops and seeds of the peppers, I seasoned them up with olive oil salt and pepper.  In hindsight, I would have charred the peppers on the stove to soften them up and get some additional depth of flavor.  I hand-packed the stuffing in the peppers.  I did not hold back.  You shouldn't either!  I let them cook in a preheated 350°F oven just until the stuffing heated through...about 20 minutes.

 

Stuffed Acorn Squash

I applied the same technique to acorn squash.  I cut a squash in half widthwise for 2 servings.  I hallowed out the halves with a spoon.  The squash was hit with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  I used my hands to rub the seasoning all over the squash, inside and out.  I allowed the squash to roast in the oven by placing the cut side down on a pan.  I lined my pan with foil, because I'm lazy and cleaning out the pan wasn't something I was feeling at the time.  They roasted in a 350°F oven until the interior was soft and turned golden around the edges...about 30 minutes.  The cooked squash was again hand packed with the stuffing mixture.  I added some leftover broccoli this time.  One of my New Year's Resolutions: waste less food.  Once the stuffing heated through, I was ready to enjoy. 

Fish with Cornbread Stuffing

 

The fish was another good and quick way to use up the muffins.  I loaded the center of a seasoned fish fillet with the stuffing and simply had rolled the fish around it.  I gave the fish a quick drizzle with some oil and baked it at 325°F until the fish firmed up and cooked through.  Should take 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

So, to wrap up, there are tons of things that you can do to repurpose leftovers.  Get creative in the new year and leave nothing to waste!

AEC

 

Photo Credits: Ashley E. Cummings

Hoppin' John Cornbread Muffins

Photo Credit: Ashley E. Cummings

Hoppin' John Cornbread Muffins

Traditional components of the Southern New Year's staple, Hoppin' John, work in harmony to create these yummy muffins.  What a way to ring in a year of prosperity!  Serve warm with butter as a brunch feature or hearty on-the-go snack.  You can also serve them with soup to complete the meal.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Baking Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 6 jumbo muffins

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, roughly chopped

½ cup white onion, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

½ pound collard greens, finely chopped

  salt to taste

  black pepper to taste

  hot sauce to taste

1 ¼ cup cornmeal

½ cup white flour

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons, butter melted

2 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup canned black-eyed peas, rinsed, drained, and slightly smashed

Directions:

1.)  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease the inside of a jumbo muffin pan.

2.)  Slowly cook the bacon in a wide skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove bacon and place on paper towel.  Carefully pour off all but a tablespoon of the resulting bacon drippings.  Reserve the drippings for later use.  Sauté the onion in the pan drippings.  Once the onions are tender and begin to brown, add the vinegar to the hot pan with the onions.  Watch out!  The steam from the vinegar is going to hit you in the face!  Stir the onions and vinegar around while removing any brown bits from the pan.  Reduce the vinegar until most of the liquid has evaporated.  Add the greens to the pan.  Slowly move around the greens with the onion.  The volume will decrease.  Cook down the greens until the stems are soft.  Season the greens with salt, pepper, and hot sauce; set aside to cool.

3.)  Whisk together the cornmeal, white flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl until well combined.  In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, honey,  vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the remaining bacon drippings.

4.)  Combine the contents of both bowls until just incorporated.  The batter will be thick and somewhat lumpy.  Coarsely chop the cooked bacon and fold into the batter with the beans and cooled greens.

5.)  Evenly distribute the batter into the greased muffin cups.  An ice cream scoop works great for this.

6.)  Bake until tops turn golden brown and a toothpick can be cleanly removed from the center of the muffins.  About 30 minutes.

NOTE:  A standard muffin pan for 12 can also be used for this recipe.  The baking time will go down to about 20 minutes.

For National Cookie Day...Almond Shortbread Cookies

I went to one of my favorite quirky discount stores yesterday.  In addition to some interesting combinations of consumer packaged goods, they also have a pretty nice assortment of gluten-free flours.  So, I picked up some coconut flour yesterday.  Also, I've been staring at this package of almond paste for months. I decided to kill 3 birds with one stone by 1) experimenting with coconut flour, 2) getting rid of this almond paste, and 3) paying homage to National Cookie Day. 

Let me know if you give this recipe a try.  It's pretty easy.  The subtle flavor of coconut is pretty nice.  If you decide not to do the sandwich cookies, just take a moment to slather a couple of cookies with cocoa hazelnut spread...trust.  Enjoy ;-)

 

 

Almond Shortbread Cookies, inspired by Odense

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 8 minutes

Yield: 36 cookies

 

Ingredients:

• 3.5 ounces of almond paste

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 teaspoon of Kosher salt

• 1 egg yolk

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup coconut flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a food processor, break up the almond paste into crumbs.  It tends to clump up into a hard mass.

Add the butter, sugar, extract, and salt.  Process until combined.  With the processor still in motion, add the yolk.  Continue to process to incorporate the yolk. 

In another bowl, sift together the flours and baking powder.

Add the flours and baking powder into the food processor with the other ingredients.  Process to combine all the ingredients.  Take a break, and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides.  Process a little longer to incorporate.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag.  Portion the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Greasing the baking sheet with butter works, too.

TIP: You can use a plastic freezer bag if a pastry bag is not available.  Just fill and cut one of the bottom openings.  What? You don't have that either?  Go old school and place the cookies on the paper using a couple of spoons.

Smooth out the top of your dough with a small amount of water on your finger for presentation.

Place the dough in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes or until the edges have begun to brown.  Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on a cooking rack before enjoying.

OPTIONAL: Create sandwich cookies by placing 1/2 a tablespoon of cocoa hazelnut spread between 2 cookies.  These cookies look great with a quick dusting of powdered sugar.

 

Lessons Learned: Fruit Tart with Momofuku Corn Cookie Crust

Fruit Tart with Momofuku Corn Cookie Crust. AEC 2014

 

I think Momofuku is awesome!  When Momofuku Milk Bar was at Emporiyum-Baltimore a few months back, I was all over the table...trying stuff...asking questions...I had to have been annoying the hell outta somebody.   The Corn Cookie was on point.  It was soft, buttery, and the corn flavor really hit you in the face.  The corn flavor was driven by the corn powder produced by Milk Bar.  "Ingredients: freeze dried corn ground into a powder".  Of course, I picked up a bottle with plans to make my own.  They came out ok.  I didn't get the texture right.  THEORY: I think my hot kitchen made the butter melt too fast. 

Anywho, I made way too many.  Ok, I was trying to show off to my friends with these amazing cookies.  However, when they didn't turn out quite right, I went to Plan B...give them hugs :-)  I ended up freezing the remaining cookies.  I knew I could do something with them.  Jazz up a parfait, ice cream cookie sandwiches...then it hit me...cookie crust for Ayla's B-Day Fruit Tart.  Long story short: the girl loves fruit tarts. 

 

I never made my own cookie crust from a batch of cookies I actually made.  What have I been doing with my life?  So, I looked up some tips online.  I didn't have that many cookies to mess up.  It was simple enough.  Grind cookies, combine with melted butter, press into form, and bake.  I was able to get a little less than 2 cups of cookie crumbs.  I actually did this the night before I made the tart.  I hesitated adding butter at all.  The crumbs kind of clung to themselves without the addition of anything. 

Heavy handed me added 5 tablespoons of melted butter.  Yeah, ended up being a little much.  In hindsight I could have added some flour to dry it out slightly, but I didn't want to take away from the cookie flavor.  Perhaps, adding more corn powder could have helped, too.  I added some raw sugar.  I thought it would add an interesting texture contrast. 

So, after a few minutes in the 350°F oven, the crust started to bubble like crazy.  It actually started to lose the form that I had so painstakingly worked to achieve.  I think I helped it some by removing it from the oven and flattening out the bottom again.  I lost some of my edges.  The pastry cream sat more on top of the crust vs. inside of it. 

Overall, not the worst fruit tart that I'm had.  The crust was a little hard which I actually liked.  I didn't put a barrier, like chocolate, between the crust and the pastry cream, so it did soften up a bit.  Next time...and there will be a next time, I could just press the crumbs with no additional butter in the pan.  What if I just put the cookie dough in the tart pan?  I lost the texture I was looking for from the raw sugar.  Folding in some course sugar should work better.  I think with only a few minutes in the oven, I might make a better tart next time...lessons learned.

 

AEC

Save a Step. Don't Wash Your Poultry.

I have always washed my chicken and turkey (pieces or whole) in the sink before cooking them.  The only reasoning I can provide...tradition.  My mom, like so many other cooks, was my first culinary instructor. She would always clear out the sink, rinse, pat dry, and season meat all there.  So, of course, when I started cooking for myself and my family, that's what I did. Never questioned it.  Wait, why am I Baptist?

Anyway,  I recently attended a Penn State Extension workshop where we talked briefly about food safety in commercial kitchens.  The instructor asked, "Who still washes their chicken?".  I joined everyone else in the room who did that slow hand raise while giving everyone else the side-eye.  Yeah.  The instructor quickly let us know that there is no reason for this practice.  In fact, you're really increasing the chances of spreading harmful bacteria, like salmonella, because so few people actually take the time to properly disinfect contaminated surface areas. 

If your argument for continuing to wash your poultry is at all related to smell or a slimy texture, you might want to switch stores.  Raw poultry can safely be held in your fridge for up to 2 days.  After that, you will experience an unpleasant aroma. Don't risk it.  If you find that your poultry is a little too wet right out of the packaging, just pat it dry with a paper towel. Don't forget to take out the trash!

Bottom line, the only proven way to kill bacteria from raw poultry is by ensuring that the internal temperature has reached 165°F.  For the most part, I've had good luck relying on the pop-up timer when roasting a whole bird.  I usually take the temperature of the inner thigh making sure I avoid the bone, too.  The juice should be clear. 

So, by not washing your poultry, I saved you what...5, 10 minutes? You're welcome.

AEC

Croissant Donuts at Dunkin' Donuts...It's No Ansel's

 

Croissant Donut at Dunkin' Donuts-AEC

I took it as a matter of social responsibility to make it to my local Dunkin' Donuts location today and try the new Croissant Donut.  This is no doubt DD's attempt to ride on the success of Dominique Ansel's Cronut™ sensation that one must wait hours to hopefully purchase for $5 in NYC.  I made that journey myself last year.

A description of the cronut...deep fried butter! So rich. I'm glad we got to experience it on our donut tour. Ayla and I preferred the DKA. It's rich but not as crazy as the cronut. The DKA reminds more of a high quality French pastry. Plus, you don't have to wait 90 minutes to get it!

Facebook Post by Ashley E. Cummings, November 2013

No need to wait hours for the Croissant Donut.  I shelled out $2.49 plus tax to get mine in the 8 o'clock hour this morning.  I might have waited 90 seconds for service.  They even put it in a little fancy box. 

The appearance looked promising.  It had more of a golden color than the traditional original glazed donuts.   The shape wasn't all the way round.  It reminded me more of a stop sign. That color lent itself to a crisp outside much like the exterior on a croissant!  How about that! 

Overall, I wasn't overwhelmed by the taste.  The donut was somewhat yeasty.  Bad batch?  Too much yeast?  That was a turn off, because you don't find yeast in traditional croissants. Crazy, usually DD gets the yeast levels right.  I didn't get much of any butter taste although it is listed in the ingredient list.  It was lacking the buttery layers that you expect from a croissant.  In Ansel's version, the butter slaps you in the face.  Perhaps, they could have traded in that box for some artificial butter flavoring.

 Side View of the Cronut™-AEC

Overall, I'm not a fan of DD's new Croissant Donut.  If consumers want to have a good croissant donut experience, I would check out a local shop.  If you go to NYC and happen to be by Dominique Ansel's Bakery, laugh at all the jerks waiting in line and walk inside.  Pick up a DKA.  You'll get an experience similar to that of the Cronut™ without the aggravation of waiting in line. 

Hold on, DD.  You might be able to turn this around.  Ansel changes the flavor of his Cronut™ every month.  Play around with some other varieties.  That could keep the Croissant Donut convo going for you...I'm not sure how long your "limited time" is intended to be.  And hey, don't be too hurt by this write-up.   You still rock out the Sour Cream and Traditional Cake donuts.

AEC

National Sandwich Day

I know you don't think I forgot National Sandwich Day!

Last second meal idea...

Pastrami on 7-grain bread with sun-dried tomato and spicy mayo griddled in olive oil and butter...

...in your face Subway!...ha!

AEC

@aec_culinary #sandwich