Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Mellow Yellow


I usually use boxed corn muffin mix when I make corn bread. Sad, but true. It's not that I don't have recipes, but the boxed stuff goes together so quickly and with little mess. Even so, there are so many interesting corn bread recipes that when I read about the Taste of Yellow for LIVESTRONG event, hosted by Barbara at Winos and Foodies, I decided that my yellow food would be corn bread. Not just any cornbread, of course, but Very Corny Corn Bread. As you can see from the photo, it finishes up a very mellow yellow inside, with extra zip from the corn kernels.

LIVESTRONG Day is the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s (LAF) grassroots advocacy initiative to unify people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer survivorship issues on a national level and in local communities across the country. LIVESTRONG Day 2007 will occur on Wednesday, May 16.

My mom is a cancer survivor, more than 5 years after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Her doctor, a very uptight fellow, danced when she survived 3 years. His lung cancer patients don't usually survive that long. I also have two people in my family/friends circle going through diagnosis procedures right now to see if they have cancer, or how extensive it is. This terrible disease affects so many. I am blogging for the event to raise awareness of cancer. However if you wish to make a donation you can do so by visiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation donation page.

This cornbread is almost like a spoonbread. The corn meal is stone ground whole meal so it has a nice rough texture, but since the recipe also uses creamed corn, butter, honey, egg substitute, and buttermilk, this bread has moisture to spare. The crust is crisp and the interior is soft and tender with whole kernels of corn. It was hard to not eat the whole pan of corn bread at one sitting.


I based this recipe on one in the book Bake Sale Cooking by Sally Sampson. I substituted buttermilk for a cup of the milk, added a little baking soda, and whisked the butter and honey together, but otherwise followed her recipe, without the cheese. The recipe below is how I made it. Hope you find time to make this, too, in honor of cancer survivors like my mom.

Very Corny Corn Bread
Serves 9
1 1/4 cups stone-ground yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup low fat milk
1 cup creamed corn (canned)
2 eggs, at room temperature or 1/2 cup egg substitute
Preheat the ovent to 375 degrees F.
Lightly butter and flour an 8 inch x 8 inch pan.
Place the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt ina medium sized mixing bowl.
In another bowl, place the honey, then whisk in the melted butter until it is fully incorporated.Add the buttermilk, milk, creamed corn, and eggs or egg substitute. Mix well.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and blend quickly using as few strokes as possible. Immediately pour into the prepared pan and place in the preheated oven.
Bake until firm to the touch and light gold on the edges, about 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve while still warm.

14 comments :

  1. Beautiful cornbread, but GORGEOUS rose! Looking forward to our Sunday adventure!

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  2. HI Elle - Great news your Mum has survived her 5 years. Thanks for supporting A Taste Of Yellow. I'll be posting a round up on 16th May.

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  3. OMG I've already copied the recipe and printed it out.. I've tried so many from scratch corn breads and not one has tripped my trigger. None of them have looked as good as this one, so I'm willing to wager if it isn't exactly what I'm looking for it will be super close.
    Thanks for sharing, sweetie!
    xoxo

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  4. That is so wonderful about your mother. What a strong woman she must be.

    I so love cornbread. I love your first picture where you can see the kernals. So worth the effort.

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  5. Anna, first roses of the season...looking forward to Sunday, too.

    Barbara, A Taste of Yellow is great event.

    Lis, I'm so glad that you might use this...makes it worthwhile to try new recipes :)

    Cheryl, Mom is a strong woman...runs in the family LOL
    It's cute when the kernels peep out.

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  6. Anonymous1:21 AM

    It's great to hear about your mom :) And this cornbread looks wonderful!

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  7. Your bread looks wonderful,mmm.

    I just heard about this event a couple of days ago - I'm trying and meet Mondays due date!

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  8. Anonymous10:14 AM

    Hi Elle! Your cornbread looks (and sounds) delicious - I'm such a sucker for it! Wonderful entry - and my thoughts and best wishes go out to your mom.

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  9. Anonymous10:38 AM

    I've always been a cornbread mix kind of gal... it just seemed easier. All of these great yellow recipes are making me think I need to step out of my shell a bit. Looks delicious!

    Congrats to your Mom!

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  10. I don't think I've ever made cornbread but recently I've been incorporating corn meal into some of my other baking and I like it.

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  11. Way to break away from boxed corn bread...and all for a good cause! Looks great.

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  12. Joey, Double thanks!

    Kelly-Jane,
    Hope you can participate...it's important.

    Gilly, Thanks. Give it a try...home made cornbread is differetn.

    Kristen, Know what you mean, but when time permits, from scratch is so much better (now I know).

    Brilynn, Give it a go with the cornbread...imagine it slathered in butter and dripping with honey.

    Peabody,Thanks. It IS a good cause.

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  13. Anonymous10:13 PM

    I wish I could bake like you. Someday I'll pick it up .. someday. But for now, I guess I'll settle at eating and shooting stuffs that I eat ...

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  14. Anonymous7:19 AM

    I posted a like in my little yellow roundup...nothing like the great job that Barbara did!
    Being from the south we eat a lot of cornbread~ this looks great. I will have to give it a try.

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