Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 25 to 30 minutes
Serves: 12 to 14
When I eat a food too often and made in the same manner, I lose interest in it. Lately, I've been trying to reinvent our cornbread, an American food that is made in the Fall and Winter. I thought of our October holiday honoring Christopher Columbus who arrived in America in 1492. As he stepped off his ship with his customs and foods, he encountered an indigenous culture and new culinary delights - some made with corn or "maize". This idea inspired me to kick up our usual cornbread recipe with different ingredients. Unsure as to whether my new recipe would be a hit or not, I recently brought it to work and set it on our kitchen counter. Everyone seemed to like it because it disappeared in under an hour - and this happened twice in a week!
Ingredients:
1 small zucchini, cut in chunks
1 small carrot, cut in chunks
1/2 red bell pepper, cut in chunks
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1-1/4 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour
1-1/2 tablespoons baking powder
2 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk (whole or 2% milk fat)
Heat oven to 400˚F. Grease and flour a 9-inch spring form pan or regular cake pan; set aside.
In a food processor, pulse-blend the zucchini, carrot and bell pepper chunks until chopped but not mashed; set aside.
In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons oil and stir fry the chopped vegetables on medium high heat for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt, transfer the vegetables to a plate and set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, in a 2-quart mixing bowl, combine the remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, cornmeal, flour and baking powder; set aside.
In a 4-quart mixing bowl, with a wire whisk, mix the eggs and sugar until uniform. Stir in the oil and milk. With a wooden spoon, add the combined dry ingredients and mix until blended - do not overmix. Gently stir in the cooled vegetables.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake on a rack positioned in center of oven for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, check doneness by inserting a pointed knife in center of cornbread - knife should come out clean. If knife has wet batter around it, bake an additional 5 minutes.
Remove cornbread from oven and set on a counter to cool. When it is warm, loosen and remove spring form pan sides and slice the cornbread. If using a regular cake pan, loosen sides of cornbread with a knife and flip onto a flat plate. Slice and serve.
Enjoy the warm cornbread with soups, stews or chili.
Text and Photographs © Nancy Real 2010
