3rd ANNUAL NEED TO KNEAD BREAD ROUND-UP

3rd ANNUAL NEED TO KNEAD BREAD ROUND-UP HONEY BANANA WHOLE WHEAT BREAD

Honey Banana Whole Wheat Bread
1 1/2 pound loaf

1/2 cup 1% milk, room temperature
1 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
3 tablespoons honey
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup bread flour
1 medium banana sliced
1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

The beauty of bread machines is that they always want the same layering.

Liquids
Butter chunks, vanilla, egg &honey
Flour & Sugar
Yeast

The key to any good bread is using quality fresh ingredients.
Just remember, garbage in is garbage out.
Let your bread maker do the rest!

Don't forget to link up with your recipe!

Try these too:

• Apple Bread w/ Cream Cheese Icing
• Banana Raisin Nut Bread
• Beer Bread
• Brioche Egg Bread
• Bubble Bread
• Buttermilk Bread
• Cheddar Cheese Biscuits
• Cinnamon Banana Bread
• Cinnamon Raisin Loaf
• Crunchy Parmesan Croutons
• Honey Banana Whole Wheat Bread
• Parmesan Rolls
• Tropical Apricot Mango Bread
• White Cheddar Biscuits

You can find me at my home blogs 3 Sides of Crazy, Always Eat On The Good China, on Sundays here at OUR KrAzY kitchen and on Saturdays over at THE Motivation Station.

Pumkpin Parmesan Pasta: The Perfect "Pre-Trick or Treat" Dinner

Hi, everyone!  My name is Angie from Cocina Diary and today I am guest posting at this wonderful Krazy Kitchen.  Well, it is the day before Halloween and everywhere I look, all I see is Halloween decorations and candy.  This festivity immediately conjures thoughts of candy, so I immediately thought about a dessert, when deciding on a recipe for today.  But the more I thought about it, the more I moved away from that idea.  Do not get me wrong.  I love candy but too much sweetness deserves a little savory, especially around Halloween.  And so, I want to share with you my Pumpkin Parmesan Pasta.

Here is why this pasta is such a great adult alternative for a Halloween celebration, or any other gathering.  First it is delicious and easy.  Second, it has pumpkin in it, and you can feed a crowd because the ingredients are affordable.  So, in other words: my type of recipe.  Now for the actual recipe. 

 

You will need the following ingredients:

• 3-4 crushed garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb. sweet sausage.  I buy the package that already comes with the meat out of the casing, which saves time.
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 can, plus 2 tbsp chicken broth (If you do not want to open another can of broth, you can substitute the broth for water; here is a quick tip I use.  I freeze leftover broth in ice trays-- which comes to about two tbsp.  That way I alway have it handy for recipes like this)
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• a pinch of ground cloves
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• a pinch of black pepper
• 1 tbsp sage
• 1 box of penne pasta (cooked al dente)
• some parsley for garnish
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano

 Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, over medium, heat the garlic in the olive oil. 

2.  Add the sausage and cook until done.

3. Once cooked, put the meat and garlic in a separate bowl.

4.  Add the broth to the skillet to deglaze it and get those delicious bits from the bottom of the pan.

5. Add the sour cream, half and half, pumpkin, 2 tbsp cheese, and the spices.  Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

6. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce in the skillet. Also add the meat you set aside before.

7. Simmer until the sauce starts thickening.

8. Serve and garnish with parsley and cheese.

This pasta has a delicate flavor, and although the sausage also adds a little bite to the flavors, it does not overpower the pumpkin flavor.  You will also find that the sauce is very creamy and delicious.  This whole dish is like a warm cozy blanket around your shoulders; it will make you smile.  And it will provide the right sustenance and energy before you go trick or treating.  :-) I hope you enjoy it.

 

I also want to thank the talented posse at Our Krazy Kitchen for giving me the opportunity to post one of my recipes here today.  Thanks a lot and I hope you guys like it!  Have a great weekend.

Fire Day Friday: Planked Sweet Potatoes & Butternut Squash

Everyone has seen or heard about cedar plank "smoked" salmon, right?

But one dish I have wanted to try since seeing it two years ago was cedar planked mashed potatoes. It was a blend of yukon and sweet potatoes mashed and then grilled on a cedar plank.

I finally got around to trying it tonight but used a blend of fire roasted butternut squash and sweet potato instead. Alexis gets all the credit for this dish, because while the general idea was mine, she came up with the actual recipe and execution.

Planked Sweet Potatoes and Butternut Squash
Source: Ms. NibbleMeThis

1/2 butternut squash
2 ea sweet potato
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar (sub brown sugar)
1 pinch nutmeg, fresh grated
1 tsp maple flavored agave nectar (sub honey)
1/4 cup walnuts
1 cedar plank, soaked for 2 hours.

Roast the squash (cut side down in a covered casserole for first 40 minutes, flip and cook uncovered the next 20 minutes) and sweet potatoes in a 375f oven for one hour.

Or if you have time on your hands, roast the squash on a grill over indirect heat (same directions) and then toss the sweet potatoes into the coals for 20 minutes.

Flip and cook another 20 minutes.

Remove it all and let cool. Scoop out the pulp of the potatoes and butternut squash. Blend together with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and agave nectar. You can make to this point a day in advance.

Spoon the mixture onto the cedar plank and top with walnuts. Place over direct heat on the grill at 350f and cook for 20-30 minutes.

The plank will start to smoke a little but not burst into flames. The potato mixture may start to ooze a bit around the edges like this, but that's okay, it's going to caramelize.

See the crispy edges?


If serving for REAL guests (we were just playing around with the idea tonight), bring it in off the grill and place the plank on a bed of damp greens just as dinner is being served. This makes for a dramatic presentation and the greens help to make sure the wood doesn't keep burning.

Does the cedar plank "smoking" really add flavor to this dish? Honestly no. It's all presentation.

But you have to admit....it's a pretty cool presentation:)

Pan Seared rib Eye Steak

Sometimes you just want a great steak.  No fancy marinades, no fancy sauces, no fancy spices...  And much as I like my Grill... Sometimes you just want to have pan to serving plate in less than 15 minutes.  Give this a shot and you may never eat a steak another way... The technique comes a bit from Alton Brown.  Although he finishes in the oven (which I would do if using a thicker slice of meat).  Here's the key... HOT HOT HOT pan.  Not a hot pan with oil, but a HOT pan. I use my cast iron skillet for this.  Heats evenly, retains heat and is so much fun to hear the sizzling steak when you start cooking.  Fair warning, the process will cause smoke.  No, it is not burning, but you do want to have a window open or the fan over your stove top running.

OK, here we go...

• 2 - 1 inch thick Boneless Rib-eye Steaks (about a 8 oz each) 
• 1 teaspoon Canola Oil 
• 1 TBS Kosher Salt 
• 1 TBS freshly ground Black Pepper
  

1. Allow steaks to come to room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Heat your skillet... High for 5 minutes.  No oil, no seasonings... just cast iron and heat.  You want the skillet to be about 500 degrees.
3. Lightly coat steaks with conola oil, then liberally sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place the steaks in the pan and do not touch them for 1 minute.  Use a kitchen timer.  (Note: expect a lot of smoke, turn the fan on your hood).
4. Flip the steak with tongs (note: NEVER use a fork, never put holes in your meat when cooking, always use tongs) and cook for another 1 minute.  Your steaks are now temped @rare.
5. Repeat each side for 1 minute each and your steaks are @medium rare (perfect for me)
6. Repeat each side for 1 minute each and your steaks are @medium (perfect for Jackie)
7. OR... Check the internal temperature of your steaks.  Medium Rare steaks are done when they reach an internal temperature of 130 to 135 degrees (mine took 4 minutes to cook).  Medium Well steaks (shudder) are done when they reach 145-150 degrees (Jackie's took 6 minutes).
8. Rest the meat for 5 minutes (Note: this step is VERY important.  Have you ever seen steak served in a pool of blood?  This step will fix that unsightly problem.  The juices will collect in the meat and remain if you rest the meat uncut for 5 minutes.  Actually, I rest mine in a double layer of aluminum foil.  This also keeps the meat hot the entire time, so you can serve a HOT medium rare steak at the same time you are serving a HOT medium well steak.  Just trust the temperature prob, and DO NOT EVER CUT INTO THE STEAK TO TEST DONENESS! 

Alton does explain the proper way to check for internal temperature (from the side, not the top.  You want to measure the temp at the thickest part of the meat, in the center.  When you check from the top, it is hard to find the center).

He also explains a complicated set up for resting.  I confess that aluminum foil works for me, and I did not follow his resting collection method for collecting juices.  Buy the book and take a look for yourself if you want to get complicated.

Here's a shot of a medium rare steak and a medium steak (trust me, medium rare is better), but notice no dripping juices, they are all in the rested meat.

...

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. It really is just this easy!  

 ... I CAN COOK THAT! 

And so can you!
...
...

Buffalo Chickpea Patties

I've been enjoying a lot of vegetarian meals lately. I LOVE beans, they are healthy and cheap!

I've made bean patties before but so far, these are my favorite. I got the recipe from Veggie by Season and I even attempted to copy her presentation!  It looked so nice! 

I liked how she pureed some of the oats, I think that led to them sticking together better.  They made a very nice appetizer! 

We ate these with a delicious Apple and Caramelized Onion Pizza. 

Buffalo Chickpea Patties

Adapted from Veggie by Season

1 - 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 c. buffalo sauce, I used Franks

1 egg white

1 small onion

1 tsp. garlic powder

Salt and pepper

For serving:

Buffalo sauce

Ranch or blue cheese

Carrot Sticks

Celery

Cucumber

Add chickpeas to a bowl, use a potato masher or fork to mash, some chunks are okay.  Add the buffalo sauce to the chickpeas. 

Add half the oats to a food processor, pulse to create a crumb, add to the chickpeas. Then add the rest of the oats. Beat the egg white into the chickpeas.  Grate onion into the chickpeas, finally add the garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Combining ingredients well. 

Heat a griddle over medium, spray with nonstick spray.  Use a 1/4 measuring cup to portion out chickpea mixture onto griddle.  Cook patties for about 5 - 7 minutes, until crispy and brown, flip gently and cook for another 5 - 7 minutes.  Serve immediately to retain crispness. 

I served these as an appetizer and got about 7 patties.  You could make larger patties and serve as a burger as well. 

Total calories = 616 calories

7 patties = 88 calories per patty

Check out more recipes at Debbi Does Dinner Healthy!

This is linked with Ingredient Spotlight:Oats at Eat at Home and Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

Try a New Recipe: Sourdough Starter + Bread

If you've ever wanted to try making sourdough, now is the perfect time to get "started!" OuR KrAzY KiTcHeN is holding the 3rd Annual Need to Knead Bread Roundup, and if you "start" now, you can have some fabulous sourdough bread to enter in the roundup!

This recipe came from one of my Taste & Create partners last year: Grace of A Southern Grace. (If you'd like to sign up and participate in November, go here by Nov. 8!)

As I was looking around Grace's blog last year, I kept seeing all the fabulous things Grace does with her precious Ebenezer, her sourdough starter.

And I thought:

Exactly what kind of cowgirl doesn't have a jar of sourdough starter?

Can I actually claim to be a cowgirl, having never made a loaf of bread from my own starter?

Does Grace have a recipe for sourdough starter?

Will this sourdough starter really, truly be hard to kill, as Grace alleges?
Please let it be hard to kill, and easy to maintain.

What should I name it??

And I made a list for Number One and sent him off to the store.

Sourdough Starter
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 package (2-1/4 teaspoons) dry yeast
3 tablespoons instant potato flakes

To make starter:
Mix water, sugar, yeast, and potato flakes. Let ferment on counter for two days. Then feed with starter feeder and continue with the instructions found in the bread recipe and/or links below.

Starter Feeder
Mix together:
½ c sugar
3 T potato flakes
1 c warm water

Add to jar of starter, (I mixed mine a little with a wooden spoon) and let sit on the counter for around 8 hours.

Grace says: Eb lives in the fridge until feeding time, which can be anywhere from 3 to 14 days after his last meal. (I've actually gone longer than two weeks without feeding him and he still did fine.) Upon feeding, he sits on the counter for about 8 hours, and then he's ready to go.

After sourdough has been on the counter for 8 hours, proceed with any number of sourdough recipes. (Click this link to see all the things I've made with sourdough starter!)

The sourdough starter went off without a hitch. It sat and fermented and bubbled and stewed on the counter. I added the starter feeder, and it bubbled away some more. I decided to name it Virgil, which means "growing."

When it was time, I decided to go ahead with the most basic recipe, Sourdough Bread. I followed Grace's recipe to the letter. 12 hours later, the dough had risen, but certainly wasn't overflowing out of my bowl like Grace's was out of her trifle bowl. Perhaps my bowl was bigger, or something?

I decided I'd make just two loaves instead of three loaves like Grace made. I left the loaves in the oven for 8 hours, just like Grace recommends.

My bread turned out lovely! Perfectly risen, (see above!) golden brown on the outside. The very middle was just a bit doughy, so next time I will preheat the oven to 350 before I start the timer! I think that will take care of that little problem. But, this bread is delicious and easy, and I started baking more of my own bread! I also tried some other sourdough recipes, and I even got my neighbor started with some starter of her very own!

I am sold and converted. Now I'm a real, live cowgirl with real, live sourdough starter in the fridge. Howdy, Virgil. Thanks for coming into my life! I know we'll make some beautiful things together.

Grace's Sourdough Bread
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sourdough starter
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
5 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons wheat germ

Combine all ingredients in a large non-metal bowl. Stir everything together, adding more bread flour as necessary to create dough that's no longer sticky. Transfer the dough into a second non-metal greased bowl.

Roll it around so the entire ball becomes glorious, set it in a warm place, cover it with sprayed aluminum foil...and watch it grow for about 12 hours.

After 12 hours, punch down the dough once, right in its middle. Turn it out of the bowl onto a floured surface and knead it a few times.

(Although Grace divided her dough into three, I only felt like I had enough for two loaves this time).

Divide the dough into two or three even hunks, and knead each a bit more. Place the dough into greased loaf pans.

Place the pans in the oven, cover with sprayed foil, and leave to rise again for around 8 hours.

Grace says: Just FYI, the pans are put into the oven to rise so they don't have to be moved later and risk collapsing.

After the second rise, remove the foil and bake the dough at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Preheat the oven before you start the timer!

Don't forget to visit me at The Bad Girl's Kitchen for more fabulous recipes!

Save Room for Dessert...Donuts!

During our little cool spell a week or two ago, I decided that I would tackle donuts!  I've long made Sicilian sfinges, but I'd never made the roll and cut variety.  It's actually quite an easy process. It's not a project to do if you have little ones underfoot, however, as you do deep fry these treats and the flour tends to splatter.  I definitely recommend using a thermometer if you don't have an electric skillet with a temp guage.  The oil temperature needs to stay around 370-375 degrees to keep the donuts from becoming greasy.

  

I was inspired to make these after reading the new culinary mystery series, A Donut Shop Mystery by Jessica Beck.  This rrecipe was in Glazed Murder.

A Good Beginning Donut from Glazed Murder
4-5 cups bread flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon nutmeg (recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon, but I love nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt (recipe calls for 2 dashes)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
Powdered sugar for rolling
Oil for frying

• Whisk together the dry ingredients. 
• Using a fork, beat together the sour cream, egg, and buttermilk, then add to the dry ingredients.
• Beat together until mixture resembles bread dough.
• Roll dough 1/4" on a well-floured surface.
• Using a donut cutter, cut your donuts.
• Heat oil (3 inches deep or so) to 375 degrees.
• Carefully lower donuts into hot oil.
• Fry for 2 minutes on each side.
• Remove from oil and let drain on paper towels or a rack before dusting with powdered sugar.
• Continue frying remaining donuts and donut holes.  Dough may be rolled again to cut more donuts.

I made 1 dozen donuts and 1 dozen donut holes.

GRAVESIDE CUPCAKES

Hi there! This is Emily from EZ's Recipes posting! Since "my" Simply Delicious Sunday fell on the week before Halloween, I decided to post something fun and, well, simply delicious in honor of the occasion. I went with these Graveyard Cupcakes. I actually found this recipe months ago and bookmarked it way back then with the intent of making them in time for Halloween.

I realize that unless you are a regular follower of my blog, you do not know me very well, seeing as this is only the second time that I have posted over here at Our Krazy Kitchen. But if you are a regular visitor over there, it is no secret to you how much I love Halloween. I have been talking about it all month! And now we're so close! Halloween for me, as a 30-something married adult with no kids yet, means getting all decked out in costume and going to a Halloween-themed party with friends. Hopefully in the near future I will become a mom, and it will take on a whole new meaning for me. My focus will shift from making Halloween awesome for myself and my adult friends to making it awesome for my kids and my friends' kids.

But it's not just about the costumes and the costume parties. It is about the change in the season. Here in the Midwest, that shift in the weather in mid-October makes for that perfect chilly-but-not-unbearable temperature that just tells you that Halloween is around the corner. The leaves are turning color and falling. And then there's the best part... the food. Which leads me to the point of my blog post today... my Graveyard Cupcakes. Which I have been dying to share with you, my readers.

Just sharing this makes me all that much more excited for Halloween! They were a lot of fun to make, and they are so incredibly versatile that you can be really creative and there's no going wrong with it.

Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix (if you want to go the "easy" route... feel free to make the batter from scratch as well. If you use boxed cake mix, bake according to the directions for cupcakes)
• Chocolate or Vanilla frosting - made from scratch, or store-bought, also up to personal preference
• Sandwich cookie crumbs OR chocolate sprinkles for graveyard "dirt"
• Cookies such as Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies or something similarly rounded to make a "tombstone"
• Icing to write on the tombstones with - preferably black in color but other colors could work. Or, if you want to make "grass" you could always use some green!

And from there it is pretty straightforward... make the cupcakes and decorate to your heart's content! Have fun with it! I went with "grass" and "dirt" with mine, and experimented with both chocolate and white frostings. This is something that could be fun to make for a child's Halloween party at school, or for an adult party... kids and adults will love them all the same!

Every have a very safe, fun, and Happy Halloween! I will see you next month, just in time for Thanksgiving! Please visit me at EZ's Recipes!

Veggie Tales: Veggie Pasta Bake

Happy Saturday! This is Kris from Behold the Metatron. Fall is here and the air is crisp and the leaves are turning gorgeous amber hues!



On chilly days I love to bake. But not just sweets... how about a pasta bake?

This is a Giada DeLaurentiis recipe that I tweaked it. Very delish, but NOT for those that don't like vegetables! (Shame on you!)

Ingredients

• 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
• 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes (I USED ONLY 1)
  
• 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cremini mushrooms, halved (I USED 1 PINT OF BABY PORTOBELLOS)
  
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips (I USED 1 RED ONION)
  
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence (I USED HERBES DE PROVENCE)
  
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 1 cup grated fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella (I USED REG MOZZARELLA...I didn't want the smokey flavor)
  
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

It is Fire Day Friday and one of our favorite things to cook on our grills is pizza. Yes, grilled pizza. That might sound weird but it shouldn't, coal and wood fired brick oven cooked pizzas are all the rage these days.

But first I have to thank Jenn of Jenn's Food Journey for the excellent job she did guest posting for me last week. She has an open invite to post Fire Day Friday anytime she wants.

Back to the pizza. This is one Alexis made this week on her Big Green Egg. You could do the same thing in your oven but it is just a bit better cooked by live fire.

Alexis' Chicken Alfredo Pizza

1 chicken breast, boneless, skinless
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
2 slices bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled
1 green onion, diced for garnish
1 recipe Pizza dough (use refrigerated, buy from your local pizza joint or make your own. Alexis used the recipe from Kitchenaid for their Crusty Pizza Dough).

Alfredo Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cup half & half
1 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

If you are making your own dough, like Alexis, make it first because it's going to have to rise and do all that yeast voodoo that you amazing bakers do.

Then fire up your grill to 400f. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Grill 5-6 minutes per side or until 160f internal temp. After resting the chicken for 10 minutes, thinly slice.


While chicken is resting, melt butter in a medium sauce pan. Whisk in the flour, stirring until mixing together in a light blond roux. Whisk in the half & half and simmer until reduced in volume by half. Then blend in the cheese.

Raise your grill or oven temperature to 500f. Spread the dough over a pizza stone and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Remove and ladle 1/2 cup of the alfredo sauce onto the dough. Top with the chicken, bacon, and mozzarella. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the alfredo sauce over the top.

Return to the oven/grill in an indirect heat set up for 9 minutes and top with the green onion. Cook another 2-6 minutes, until the crust reaches your desired crispiness and the toppings are melted.
Have I mentioned that I am one lucky guy because I married the perfect woman for me.

So what's your favorite pizza?

Blue and Yellow Corn Muffins from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Restaurant

Presentation and taste...

Mostly taste!  These little gems are Bobby Flay's Blue and Yellow Corn Muffins. According to Bobby, these are the most consumed item at hisMESA GRILL restaurants.  They are the hit of his bread basket.

And look close, Fresh sweet corn, red bell peppers and jalapeños add color, texture and taste. Out of the ordinary muffins to be sure.


Finding the blue corn meal can be a bit of a challenge.  There are plenty of places on the internet to order.  I found this at my neighborhood store.  Oddly enough, it was not on the shelf sitting next to "regular" corn meal, it was sitting in the gourmet food section.  So, you may need to hunt, but it does exist, and it is available.  Just start asking.


But, the blue is just for looks.  Tastes the same as yellow corn meal.  So, feel free to use this recipe with the easy to find stuff.


One other note, I use something called "Polenta Corn meal".  The ingredient list is exactly the same, but the color is much deeper yellow. Tastes the same, just better presentation.

Makes 12 large muffins or 3 dozen little mini muffins...

Nonstick cooking spray
6 TBS Butter
1 cup fresh Sweet Corn kernels (can use frozen)
1/2 cup finely diced Red Onions
1/2 cup finely diced Red Bell pepper
1/2 cup smashed and chopped roasted Garlic (about 6 cloves)
2 jalapeño Chili Peppers, finely diced 
2 TBS finely chopped Cilantro
1 1/2 cup all-purpose Flour
1TBS Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
4 tsp Kosher Salt
1 1/3 cups whole Milk
4 large Eggs
2 TBS Honey
1 cup Yellow Corn Meal
1 cup Blue Corn Meal


OK, before I get to the instructions, a bit of fair warning, if you compare the ingredient list to what is printed in the Mesa Grill Cookbook, there are a couple of little changes.  I doubled the amount of corn.  I like corn.  I like the looks of corn just busting out of these muffins when you break into one.  And the Kansas Sweet Corn right now is the best in the world.  I also roasted the garlic cloves (350 degree oven, rubbed with olive oil, wrapped in aluminum foil for 30 minutes).  The book says to mince the cloves.  I roast em, smash em with the blade of a knife and chop those. The roasting adds deeper garlic flavor.  The smashing makes more of a paste, makes for a creamier taste.

1. Roast the garlic while you Mise en Place the veggies.  Start chopping.
2. Rack in the middle of the oven, preheated to 400 degrees.  Grease a 12 muffin pan, or mini muffin pans.  I was going to serve these with soup, so made mini muffins that worked great as croûtons.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes.  Add the smashed and diced garlic.  Divide the mixture evenly between two bowls.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, eggs, red peppers, jalapeños, corn and cilantro.  Add half of the mixture in with each of the bowls containing the onion mixture.
5. Put the blue and yellow corn meal in separate bowls.  Add half the flour, baking powder and baking soda in with the corn meal.  Sprinkle a bit of salt in each.  Mix each corn meal mixture with the separate onion mix. 
6. Put a spoon full of each mixture side by side in a muffin mold.  Do not mix, as you want the Yin/Yang look.  Bake for 16 minutes (or for 14 minutes if you are making the mini muffins).

And, I used these as the base for a Cajun Spiced "Taco" salad Casserole, Click HERE to see that post over on my own site.

Here's a few more photos to give you a better idea of how to make these...

This is the third recipe I made from the book.  Great to cook from, great to inspire (and even better to eat from!)

Bobby is a winner!

Dave here from MY YEAR ON THE GRILL. It really is just this easy!  

 ... I CAN COOK THAT! 

And so can you!
...