It's been an interesting few days - the picture below rather sums it up (note cough drops in the midst of muffin making, and the unused chili fixings in the back). Since my time was unexpectedly shifted elsewhere in the last 48 hours, I was most happy to find that I could still get this week's pick done before the deadline (I cracked open the cookbook at 9pm.)
Today's recipe comes from Rebecca over at Erza Pound Cake. I discovered her blog in my ramblings through the TWD universe, and I really love her writing (I wish I could put my words together like she does). I also really love her pictures. And her choice this week.
In her blog Rebecca talks about cornbread highlighting the differences between a Southerner style vs Northerner style cornbread. As a Westerner who is half Southern I'm not sure where I come down in this debate, but know I'm out of whack all the way around. The TWD Southerners are not so pleased (respectfully) with sugar in cornbread and think this week's selection is too sweet. I like sweet cornbread (sorry Southern family members), so the addition of the sugar was fine by me (can I get some Southern love by saying I still eat grits at least once a month?). That said, my Western upbringing should mean I'm all about the spicy, but I am a complete spice wimp. My Southern father could eat a raw jalapeno, but I tend to stay as far away from the hot stuff as possible (I'm looking over my sore thumb from the jalapeno juice while dicing the pepper -- even my skin is wimpy!).
Before the results - the process. All went well at the start, until the bonehead move of the week.** I got the butter melted and cooled, but stupidly poured super cold buttermilk in. Can you guess what happened next? Yup -- the butter seized up and clumped up. After a few gentle trips to the microwave to warm to the correct temperature without cooking the yolk (and a few impolite words -- sorry again Southern family members!) the liquid got to the appropriate "well mixed" stage and things continued swimmingly from there.
The muffins made the house smell like a little slice of heaven, and had me wishing I made chili like so many of the TWDers! The results were delicious! I like the sweetness upfront, followed by the spicy (but not too spicy) kick at the back. As it turns out, these muffins perfectly represent my out of whack heritage. These will definitely be made again!
*** I'm thinking of making this -- the bonehead move of the week -- into a regular feature. I seem to do so unintentionally each week. Might as well incorporate it into the posting!
3 comments:
I hope you and your thumb are feeling better. The muffins look good and it sounds like you enjoyed them, which is a good thing after all you've been through and all you did to get 'em done! If you do it, I will look forward to the next bonehead move of the week, with lots of affection, of course! :o)
Your muffins came out really pretty - nice job!
Your muffins are lovely! Good work!
Guess what -- your "bonehead move" for this week is exactly what Cooks' Illustrated recommends you do when making easy drop biscuits! (Or was it a cobbler topping? Something like that, anyway...) Those clumps of butter make the biscuits flaky. So maybe it wasn't such a bad move after all...
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