Cornbread muffins

Nailed it! Here's a quick and easy recipe for a very morish cornbread, delicious on its own, spread with butter and tomato chutney, as well as as a side, especially with a stew or any dish in sauce.

I like to use a combination of spices as described below, as I feel each of them participates to the wonderful flavour of the bread. But don't worry if you don't have them all at hand and have to skip one or two, and feel free to add any other spice or mix that you like and think will work well with the other ingredients in this recipe.

You can also integrate other ingredients such as fresh chili (chopped), cheese (grated) and/or sweetcorn kernels (one small tin, drained, or fresh sweetcorn). Just add them last, after all the other ingredients are already mixed together, and stir with a spoon to combine well.

Although this cornbread is a delight still slightly warm from the oven, it keeps very well over a few days and makes a perfect companion for picnics and packed lunches, especially in its muffin-shaped version.

Ingredients for 20-24 cornbread muffins

375g flour

225g cornmeal (polenta)

110g sugar

1 tsp salt

4 tsp baking powder (1 pack)

480ml milk

2 eggs

110g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 tsp dry ginger powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp nigella seeds

Black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease and flour a muffin tray or a medium-size baking dish if you prefer a bread to share.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients together and mix using an electric mixer until you have the consistency of a sponge cake batter.

Pour into the prepared muffin tray or baking dish, and bake for about 30 minutes in the top of the oven (may vary a little depending on the size of the dish).

When the cornbread has a golden color, pierce with a knife or a skewer to make sure the batter is cooked through. Allow to cool slightly on a rack before serving.

Candied mashed sweet potatoes

As often, I am very late with my posts and it is now high time to finish this Thanksgiving series. This being said, nothing prevents you from preparing these recipes outside the festive season, and it was actually early February when I sampled this lip-smacking side dish for the first time. Tom and I were staying at our friends' Dianne and John in Edmonton, Canada, where the Winter is very long and cold, and Dianne cooked a wonderful dinner for us and the family, featuring, among several other sides, this sweet potato casserole. I found this being the ultimate gourmand side dish, and couldn't possibly not ask Dianne for the recipe.

The dish was so popular among our guests at Thanksgiving (especially those who eat no or little meat), I am now pleased to further share Dianne's recipe on my blog. I have to admit, I did cut quite significantly on the butter and the sugar, as the recipe calls for, um, generous amounts let's say :-) However this is up to each one and also depends on what else you are serving together with this dish. So here's the original recipe, all the way from Alberta!

Ingredients for the sweet potato mixture

3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potato

1/4 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter (~75g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for the topping

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup soft brown sugar

3 tbsp flour

1/3 cup melted butter (~75g)

1 cup coconut (optional)

Mix the ingredients for the sweet potato mixture together and spoon into an oiled ovenproof dish.

Combine the ingredients for the topping and sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake at 375°F, or 190°C, for 25 minutes or until brown on top. This can be made ahead of time and put back in oven prior to dinner.

Pecan pie

In the continuation of my Thanksgiving/Christmas series, here's a fairly easy recipe for a rich and very nutty pecan pie. For my first attempt baking this American classic, I referred to the recipe featured in the gorgeous book "Cake Days" by the Hummingbird Bakery, and left aside the chocolate chips as I wanted my pie as traditional as possible for our Thanksgiving party. It was so popular among our friends, I decided to prepare it again for my family this Christmas in Strasbourg, in place of the usual "bûche de Noël". This is when I had to bring a couple of variations (detailed below) as products such as golden syrup and soft sugar can be tricky to find in France.

Ingredients for the pastry

110g butter, softened

225g flour

80g caster sugar

1 large egg

Ingredients for the filling

100g butter

225g soft brown sugar (or regular brown sugar if soft sugar cannot be found)

110g golden syrup (or agave syrup, in which case sugar can be reduced to 150g as agave syrup's sweetening power is greater than golden syrup's)

3 large eggs

260g pecans, roughly chopped, plus 16 halves

Place the butter and flour in a bowl and rub together using your fingertips until crumb-like in consistency. Stir in the sugar, followed by the egg.

When a dough starts to form, take it out of the bowl and knead gently on a floured work surface to bring it together. Wrap the pastry in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 20-30 minutes.

In the meantime, grease and flour a tart tin. Once the pastry has rested, roll it out on a lightly floured worktop so that it is about 5mm thick. Line the tart tin with the pastry and using a sharp knife, cut away any excess pastry so that it is level with the edge of the tin. Prick the base of the pastry a few times with the point of the knife and put the tin in the fridge to rest for another 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Once the pastry case has rested, line it with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and place in the oven to bake 'blind' for 10 minutes (dry lentils or split peas work fine too). Carefully remove the beans along with the parchment, and bake the tart case for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool while you make the filling.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together. Once melted, set aside to cool. Whisk together the eggs in a bowl, just to break them up, then pour the melted ingredients into the eggs, stirring continuously until everything is combined.

Scatter the chopped pecans over the base of the tart case and pour the liquid filling on top, then decorate with the pecan halves. The liquid filling should naturally settle between the chopped pecans. If not (in case the pecans are too thinly chopped or a thicker syrup such as  agave is used), carefully mix the pecans and the liquid filling together using your fingers or a spoon.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 140°C and bake for another 20 minutes. Let cool and serve thin slices (the pie is very rich!) with a dollop of cream.

Roast turkey stuffed with clementines and rosemary

Okay both Thanksgiving and Christmas are over, but turkey can be eaten anytime after all - and I feel this precious recipe should be written down and shared before it gets lost. A big thanks to our friend Hendrik (once a cook at Berlin's famous Adlon Hotel!) for preparing this incredibly moist and tasty turkey for our Thanksgiving feast last month. The recipe may be inspired from Jamie's Christmas turkey, Jamie himself can't possibly have achieved a better result!

Ingredients for the marinade

1 cup of salt

2 cups of cranberry juice

1 ground nutmeg

Peel and juice of 1 orange

1 teaspoon of ground pepper

4 tablespoons of olive oil

The day before, place the turkey in a plastic bag. Fill in the marinade, squeeze the air out of the bag and store in a cool place overnight.

Ingredients for the stuffing

Some clementines, cut into halves 

Rosemary

Sage

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

Wash the turkey to remove the rest of the marinade and dry it well.

Massage the turkey with olive oil, and season with salt (possibly mixed with paprika powder) and pepper.

Place in the oven and roast for 30-35 minutes per kg of turkey (ours was 8.8 kg and was in for a little more than 4.5 hours).

Regularly collect the out coming liquids with a spoon and pour back over the turkey.

For the last half hour, chop some rosemary and sage, mix it with some olive oil and brush the turkey with this preparation.

Insert a meat thermometer in the biggest part of the breast. When the thermometer indicates 72°C, remove the turkey from the oven. Cover with foil and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

Cut out the breasts and put the legs back into the oven for another 10 minutes per kg of turkey (whole).

Happy Sängsgiwinn!

A big thank you to our friends who came over last week to celebrate Thanksgiving with us, and made our potluck a particularly successful one. Unfortunately our American/Canadian friends could not make it - but our party of German, French, British, Dutch and Italian took up the challenge quite superbly!

I will be sharing recipes soon - here are a few photos in the meantime. A special thanks as well to our dear friends from north America who sent over their favorite recipes.

Roast turkey stuffed with clementines and rosemary - Recipe here

Candied mashed sweet potatoes

Cornbread muffins

Pumpkin pie

Pecan pie

[Corn]Bread of Heaven

…or heavenly cornbread, as non-Welsh readers will probably not get my tentative play on words (which hopefully will at least amuse my dear in-laws).

5 days ago. Harlem, NYC. Red Rooster restaurant.

I am eating cornbread for the first time (or if I had some before, it wasn't memorable) - served warm along with honey butter and tomato chutney on the side.

Impression: Wow! To me, the ultimate comfort food - understand soft, moist, light yet indulgent, delicately sweet and spicy, all at the same time. So simple and so delicious.

Today. Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Home.

I am baking cornbread for the first time, following Red Rooster's chef Marcus Samuelsson's recipe itself, and praying to successfully reproduce the melt-in-your-mouth experience...

Verdict: More rustic in texture but just as scrumptious, "even tastier than the original" according to my loving husband.

Here's the recipe, found in the chef's cooking book that luckily happened to be sitting on the shelf right next to our table. As I'd still like to reach the velvety consistency that appealed to me so much in Harlem, I'm thinking of trying some of the following next time: replacing part of the flour with starch, adding an egg, reducing the amount of fresh corn, discarding the bain-marie. But anyway, this is all fine-tuning and I've now got the major Thanksgiving staple ready for next month!

Ingredients for 2 loaves

4 ears fresh corn (shucked)

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup polenta

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon mild chili powder

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 tablespoon nigella seeds

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 red chiles (seeds and ribs removed, chopped)

Butter to grease the pans

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the corn and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain. When the ears are cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cob. Place 1 cup of the corn kernels in a bowl and set aside. Place the remaining kernels in a blender and puree. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°F, or 190°C.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, polenta, baking powder, salt, pepper, chili powder, ginger, cardamom, and nigella seeds. Stir in the brown sugar, chiles, corn kernels, corn puree, and 2 cups water. Mix to combine.

Butter 2 loaf pans and divide the batter evenly between them. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Place the pans in a shallow baking tray filled halfway with water and place in the oven. Bake for 1 hour. Cover with aluminum and bake for another 30 minutes.

Turn the loaves out onto a cooling tray and let cool. Serve with tomato chutney.

Red Rooster Harlem
310 Lenox Avenue, Harlem, NY 10027

(212) 792-9001

info@redroosterharlem.com

Thank you Katz's

Thank you Katz's for rewarding me at last with the wow effect I have been seeking during my whole stay in New York - and on my last day too! In spite of having tried a good number of the supposedly "not-to-be-missed" spots in the Big Apple, I was often left a little disappointed, or just satisfied at best. That was until I finally walked through your doors in the Lower East Side..

The reputation of the 125-year old delicatessen of Houston Street need not be repeated, but I am thrilled to confirm that their legendary cured meat sandwiches do taste as unbelievably good as they are said to by so many fans around the globe.

I did not try Katz's celebrated pastrami as I really fancied a Reuben that day, but oh my… what a Reuben! I have been let down so many times in the States by sandwiches making up for using average quality meat and insipid cheese by sinking it all under a massive quantity of bad ready-made sauce, but here I was served a sandwich using only the best ingredients in perfect proportions: some out-of-this-world corned beef, seasoned to perfection and melting in the mouth despite being surprisingly lean, good "real" cheese (not the sweaty industrial stuff), fresh sauerkraut, still slightly crunchy under the tooth, and an honest Russian dressing to top it all off, evidently homemade. Thinking about it, calling that marvel of flavours a sandwich almost seems like an insult!

Food set aside, Katz's can also pride itself for having kept its original decor over the decades - even the "Send A Salami To Your Boy In The Army" sign hanging behind the counter (a service still available nowadays!) - retaining this way the genuine atmosphere of a former era...

Katz's Delicatessen

205 East Houston Street

New York City

(212) 254-2246

Pike Place Chowder, Seattle

 Passing through Seattle the other day, our first excursion was none other than to the famous Pike Place Market. As it was time for some lunch and we were too hungry to wander around to assess dining options by ourselves, I asked the man in the information booth at the market entrance to recommend us a place to have a bite. He suggested Pike Place Chowder for, well good chowder. That sounded like a nice idea, especially as it was a rather grey and chilli day. It turned out that we did very well following that kind man's advice, as the chowder proved wonderful.

Portland Pancakes

We left Portland and our new friends Becky and Russ a week ago. Although we were no more than friends of friends seeking accommodation, after our brief time together their exceptional welcome along with some uniquely American experiences quickly made us feel like we were part of the family.

Becky and Russ are true Oregonians, which after these few days in their lovely company could be put as: an incredible sense of fun, a poignant devotion to inter-college sport competitions (or Ducks vs. Beavers for the ones in the know!), a singular pride of the "man cave" (well hidden behind large garage doors...) and a particularly enthusiastic approach to the concept of "joie de vivre".

Beer and burgers in the Napa Valley

Until recently and like most probably do, I thought Napa Valley was all about award-winning wines and gourmet food. Well it is indeed, and I surely enjoyed touring around a few of the local wineries and tasting their respective Chardonnay, Cabernet-Sauvignon and Zinfandel to mention only a few. But that's not all, as people up there "in the Valley" also do other things very well, like beer and fast food for instance and as surprising as it may sound!