Recipe: Masa Cornbread
Masa Cornbread
From Bon Appétit (November 2010) via Epicurious and and AskMetafilter.
Do ahead: If using bread in stuffing, wrap in foil and store at room temperature at least 1 day and up to 2 days.
Masa (also known as masa harina) is available at many supermarkets and at Latin markets.
Serves 12.
active: 30 minutes / total: 1 hour 45 minutes (includes cooling time)
1 cup masa (corn tortilla mix)
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Spread masa on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Transfer masa to medium bowl and cool. Maintain oven temperature.
Coat 13-by-9-by-2-inch metal pan with 2 teaspoons oil. Whisk 1/2 cup oil, buttermilk, and eggs in medium bowl. Whisk cooled masa, cornmeal, and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Stir buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture. Transfer batter to pan.
Bake cornbread until edges are lightly browned and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack; cool completely.
Personal Notes: Holiday Field Notes, Day 1: Robert took one bite of the Masa Cornbread and immediately said "I think this might be the best cornbread I've ever had" and hours later after having seconds reiterated. At first I was sad (I love my cornbread recipe and am super loyal to it) but I did have to agree with him about how the toasted masa gives it an extra dimension both flavor and texture-wise. And it was easy as hell, just as easy as my standby version, so I don't see why I can't rotate 'em as I please. I mean, it was for making stuffing the following day and it was HARD not to eat it all instead; I would've made a second batch just for straight up enjoyment if my oven wasn't reserved all day for other side dishes. One more for the permanent repertoire, hooray.
The stuffing made with the cornbread the next day is also quite good, though chopping aaaaall those chiles (it ends up being something like 15+ fresh ones!) is rather time-consuming. Spicy, but (miraculously) not too spicy. Definitely a nice twist to the usual stuffing. Top needs to be re-crisped upon reheating; a toaster oven works well.
Day 2: The stuffing was good, but maybe too spicy for general consumption (plus the cornbread it uses is so good alone it's sad to use up that way) and the roasted sweet potato salsa was tasty but also too spicy for R to consume lots of. Maybe I'll make a note to add brown sugar to the salsa next year. (I didn't think it was too spicy, and it seems to mellow over time, but R seemed a bit wary after more than a couple bites.)
From Bon Appétit (November 2010) via Epicurious and and AskMetafilter.
Do ahead: If using bread in stuffing, wrap in foil and store at room temperature at least 1 day and up to 2 days.
Masa (also known as masa harina) is available at many supermarkets and at Latin markets.
Serves 12.
active: 30 minutes / total: 1 hour 45 minutes (includes cooling time)
1 cup masa (corn tortilla mix)
2 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 2/3 cups buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. Spread masa on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Transfer masa to medium bowl and cool. Maintain oven temperature.
Coat 13-by-9-by-2-inch metal pan with 2 teaspoons oil. Whisk 1/2 cup oil, buttermilk, and eggs in medium bowl. Whisk cooled masa, cornmeal, and next 4 ingredients in large bowl. Stir buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture. Transfer batter to pan.
Bake cornbread until edges are lightly browned and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack; cool completely.
Personal Notes: Holiday Field Notes, Day 1: Robert took one bite of the Masa Cornbread and immediately said "I think this might be the best cornbread I've ever had" and hours later after having seconds reiterated. At first I was sad (I love my cornbread recipe and am super loyal to it) but I did have to agree with him about how the toasted masa gives it an extra dimension both flavor and texture-wise. And it was easy as hell, just as easy as my standby version, so I don't see why I can't rotate 'em as I please. I mean, it was for making stuffing the following day and it was HARD not to eat it all instead; I would've made a second batch just for straight up enjoyment if my oven wasn't reserved all day for other side dishes. One more for the permanent repertoire, hooray.
The stuffing made with the cornbread the next day is also quite good, though chopping aaaaall those chiles (it ends up being something like 15+ fresh ones!) is rather time-consuming. Spicy, but (miraculously) not too spicy. Definitely a nice twist to the usual stuffing. Top needs to be re-crisped upon reheating; a toaster oven works well.
Day 2: The stuffing was good, but maybe too spicy for general consumption (plus the cornbread it uses is so good alone it's sad to use up that way) and the roasted sweet potato salsa was tasty but also too spicy for R to consume lots of. Maybe I'll make a note to add brown sugar to the salsa next year. (I didn't think it was too spicy, and it seems to mellow over time, but R seemed a bit wary after more than a couple bites.)