cornbread and news

Oh hey!  I have news.  Big news.  Good news.  I hope it's news that will make you understand why I've been m.i.a. for a while now on this blog.

Yes... yes... it finally happened!  I got a job!

Well, okay, we all know I had a job at the farm store.  But since finishing up college in December, that really wasn't cutting it for me.  These last four months have been nothing but coming home at the end of long, dull days and applying to every job I saw.  I mean, I know everyone is aware of the job market right now.  There's nothing quite like ending college with such high hopes for good things to come, and then... nothing.  

But all that weight is lifted now, and it's crazy how much brighter I feel just to know I've got something interesting to do each day.  It's nothing grand, but it is something that involves almost constant writing... which, you know, is just my thing.  So that's good.

Anyway.  What with starting the job and finally landing a sweet place to live come June when my lease is up, I was hardly ever home to cook.  I hope you understand.  And then, when I did have time... well, the weather got so beautiful that it was impossible to stay inside!  Which is how I ended up going hiking on a 90 degree day.  Ugh—don't ask me what I was thinking.  It was too hot for that, and now my legs are all sore.  And on top of that, today it's back to being cold and rainy outside.

What's a girl to do with sore muscles and bad weather?  Well, those just happen to be perfect baking conditions, didn't you know?  So I made a cornbread.

I have a confession.  The only thing I ever enjoyed from the college dining hall was their cornbread.  Yup, the soft, sticky, sweet type of cornbread that you know is just full of sugar.  It's just so good, especially to someone who was used to dry, crumbly cornbreads.  I didn't know what cornbread could be.  So this recipe, with some olive oil to counteract the sugar (maybe?) and buttermilk to keep it creamy, sounded right up my alley.  

It turned out very smooth and milky, with enough sweetness to catch my fancy but some tang from the buttermilk to keep it interesting.  I wish it had been a bit more moist, but that's about it.  So here ya go, and I hope these last few weeks have been as good for you as they have for me.

Cornbread

Adapted from The Hungry Mouse

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup olive oil

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease an 8x8 baking dish with butter.

Whisk the eggs with the olive oil and buttermilk.  Add in the cornmeal, flour, sugar, and baking powder.  Stir until well combined.  

Pour into the baking dish and bake for roughly 20 minutes, until the edges are golden.  I covered mine with foil about 15 minutes in to keep it from over-browning.

buttermilk? ...check.

Okay, okay, so I'm still on a buttermilk kick. Well, to be truthful, I'm pretty much over the super-excitement crush phase and more onto the "How do I use up this tiny yet long-lasting carton of delicious buttermilk?" phase.

So I decided to make macaroni and cheese.

Macaroni and cheese: one of my favorite foods, no matter the form. Yeah, that's right, I like the Kraft blue box just fine on my lazy days, but I also enjoy my mom's homemade recipe that produces a creamy, milky end product. And I've made that recipe lots. But... the last few times, I've found it lacking. It was a tad bland. It needed a little jazz. In short, I now realized, it needed some buttermilk.

With its crazy beautiful photos and simple ingredient list, this recipe, which I found on six course dinner, seemed like the perfect thing to try. I can't tell you how GOOD the cheese sauce smelled and tasted as I was stirring it up. I'm a little ashamed (but not too much) to say I had to fight the temptation to eat it by the spoonful, way before it even hit the elbow noodles. It had the tang of buttermilk mixed wonderfully with a one-year farmhouse cheddar.

Let's talk cheese for a minute. Working at a farm that makes their own handmade cheddar got me into cheese in a big way. I chose a one-year cheddar because it's still young enough to be creamy, but also sharp enough to add lots of flavor to the macaroni. I think it was the right choice. Even after adding the first handful of shredded cheese to the sauce, it had great flavor while staying nice and milky-smooth. I'd definitely recommend it.

Also, let's talk breadcrumbs. This was the first time I tried panko breadcrumbs (Japanese breadcrumbs made from the soft bread center rather than the crusts) and they are so good! They're infinitely more crispy than any other breadcrumb I've ever had. I wasn't sure how much flavor, if any, they would add to the dish, so I played it safe on seasonings. I shouldn't have; the panko, while providing great texture to the pasta, didn't give any extra flavor. If I did it again, I would use more pepper or even a touch of mustard seed powder.

However, this is the best macaroni and cheese recipe I've made so far. It's delicious. And you should try it. Yes, you. The one at the computer.

Buttermilk Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from six course dinner

8 oz. elbow noodles

8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

1/8 teaspoon paprika

panko breadcrumbs

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Boil the pasta in salted water, then drain.

As the pasta boils, heat the butter on medium heat. Let it melt and brown a little before stirring in the flour. Whisk constantly until fully incorporated. Slowly add the buttermilk, then stir in 6 oz. of the cheese and the paprika. When fully melted, add the mixture to the pasta, and season with salt and pepper.

Pour into a baking dish, and top with the remaining 2 oz. of cheese and a generous layer of breadcrumbs. Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes, then remove foil and let the top brown. (I switched my oven to broil for a few minutes to get there faster.) Eat!

blueberry lassi

Can I tell you a secret?

Ever since I made that cream cheese icing with buttermilk, I've become obsessed. I think about buttermilk all. the. time. I wonder what it's doing. I wanna know when we can hang out next. I spend all day long researching recipes that will make it shine.

I know... it's creepy. I'm stalking buttermilk.

And even though I found some awesome recipes to try-- things that are creamy and cheesey! things that are milky and sweet!-- those recipes would have required time and patience and, well... baking. My life's been a bit hectic lately, so those were simply out of the question. But I couldn't wait any longer! I NEEDED BUTTERMILK.

So I woke up early this morning and blended up a blueberry lassi. According to my "Do Breakfast" cookbook, lassis are an Indian drink traditionally made without fruit, but can become a sweet, refreshing breakfast drink when you add some. So I blended together some frozen blueberries, a little sugar, and my new love, buttermilk, and am now, right at this very moment, enjoying the most energizing smoothie I've ever tasted. I'm about to bounce off the walls, really. And it's barely 8 a.m.! I'm thinking I added a tad too much sugar, but you know what? It's totally delicious.

Blueberry Lassi

blueberries

buttermilk

sugar to taste

Blend them! Just do it.

edible vermont

Take a look at these beautiful eggs I was given from the farm!  I love the soft green ones.  I love that they're a little dirty.  I love thinking about what I'm going to make with them even more!

Don't these eggs just scream "spring time!"?  They make me very happy. 

(You know what else makes me happy?  The zoom lens I've been playing around with here.)

Oh, and hey... Eggs also just happen to be on the cover of this season's Edible Green Mountains.  Have you checked it out yet?  It never disappoints me.  It's always full of exciting local food news and recipes.  Like the recipe for Cinnamon Swirl French Toast with Maple Whipped Cream that I've been wanting to try.

And the magazine always points me in the direction of some great new food venue.  Yesterday I finally got a chance to visit Panadero, a tiny bakery that was featured some months back.  Their chocolate croissant was so delicious... The flavor of the bittersweet chocolate enveloped in flaky crust makes me want to learn more about pastries.

Now I'm dying to visit Cheese 'N Crust Souperstar, a little cafe located in an old converted bus stop that donates a bowl of soup to a hungry Vermonter every time (!) they sell a bowl.  And their soups sound so unique: lemon basil artichoke, curry summer squash, and tomato basil asparagus, to name a few.  Mmm.

Happy spring!  Drop me some suggestions for what to do with these wonderful eggs.

roasted banana buttermilk cake with browned butter cream cheese icing

I am having one of those weeks.  You know, one of those weeks where you go to the market and stock up on all of your usual basics-- everything you should need: fresh fruit and veggies, bread, muffins, milk, eggs.  But then you bring it home and you're out of muffins by Tuesday, and you don't have anything to put on your bread to turn it into a tasty sandwich (banana sandwich, anyone? see below.), and you realize you already had a full carton of eggs in your fridge.  

So yes, it's been one of those weeks.  One of those months, really, where things just don't add up.  You have your good old stand-by ingredients, but nothing to turn them into something spectacular-- or even something remotely functional.  

It's kind of like how I finished college in three and a half years instead of four, while squeezing in five great internships.  But now that I'm done with college... no job.  It's not adding up, no matter how many nights I come home from a day at the farm store and apply to every single job I could remotely qualify for.  And then try stirring in the fact that I need to find a new apartment soon and just had to buy a new car... It's not the prettiest of batters.

I'm sorry... is this depressing?  I apologize.  The thing is, like with this roasted banana buttermilk cake with browned butter cream cheese icing (and yes, I did try to make the title as long as possible), sometimes you just need one or two more tiny ingredients to make something wonderful.  I'm not sure what those missing ingredients are in my life, but in this cake they were cream cheese and buttermilk.

Cream cheese.  And buttermilk.  So simple, right?  I probably should have had them on hand to begin with.  Who knew that, when added to the rest of my good old stand-bys, the results would be so good?

Okay, I won't lie.  This cake wasn't all I imagined it to be.  It was more like a dense, thin banana bread (not that I'm knocking banana bread!) than the light, fluffy cake I was striving for.  But the frosting was a revelation, and when I smoothed it on top of the "cake", the results were really good.  In an unexpected way.  Like life, I suppose.  Hmm..

So now I have this cake to remind me to keep trying, to tell me that something good is around the corner.  And you know what?  I just found out today I have a totally sweet job interview next week!  (...I think the cake may have worked.)

Roasted Banana Buttermilk Cake with Browned Butter Cream Cheese Icing

adapted from On My Plate

for the cake:

3 medium bananas, sliced

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter, chilled and cut into pieces

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  

Combine the bananas, brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon butter in an 8" square baking dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Cool slightly.

Reduce heat to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl.  Combine the banana mix with the buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl.  Place 1/2 cup butter and sugar in a third, large bowl and beat til well-blended.  Add the eggs and mix well.  (Can you believe I forgot eggs until just before putting it in the oven?!)  Alternate adding the flour mixture and the banana mixture all together.

Pour into a 9x13" lightly greased baking pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.

for the frosting:

1/4 cup butter

2 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-3 tablespoons buttermilk

Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat, cooking til lightly browned (about 4 minutes).  Cool slightly.

Combine butter, sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl and beat til smooth.  Add buttermilk to taste, and to reach the desired consistency of icing.  (I wanted a smooth, almost pourable icing, so I added a good amount.)

Spread over cooled cake.