Corn Muffins

Corn Muffins

Adapted by Blue Heron Kitchen

from Carole Walter’s Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More

This post is dedicated to my friends and former neighbors who live in Long Beach, NY
This blog began because of Bernadette Martin, the Manager of the Kennedy Plaza Farmer's Market

(Back in business on the 21st of November!)

These people were some of the hardest hit and most direly effected by the recent Superstorm Sandy.
 I encourage you to help in anyway you can. 
Click HERE to visit the official site of Long Beach. On the right hand side, you will find a link where you can donate directly to help rebuild the magical "City by the Sea".
Below is a link to the National Red Cross for further donations.

After Sandy hit hard, the following week, we were slammed with a Nor’easter that dumped as much as nine inches of snow on some of us here on the east coast. Compared to others, who lost power for weeks, their homes, belongings, cars and some, their lives, I was fortunate to have only lost power for several days. After replenishing all the spoilt food items, with the new threat of power outages, I pulled out my new butter, new eggs; and I got to work, baking several batches of corn things. 

Corn muffins make life better.

I've never loved corn muffins that have kernels of corn in them, so save your kernels for chowder.

Used to be the best place in town for my corn muffin was The Palace Diner on the corner of Main Street and the Long Island Expressway.

I had my Sunday run in the park/NY Times ritual and my regular booth and great waiter, "Klino".

He knew my 'usual': black coffee and a corn muffin, toasted with butter and orange marmalade on the side. (Okay, sometimes I had poached eggs.)

 Famous people ate at The Palace. Here's someone you might recognize who fell from grace, yet still knew a good corn muffin. Anthony Weiner seized a photo op with my son, while my son was secretly fuming that his feta cheese and onion omelet and onion roll were growing cold.

The Palace is gone. 

It's a Dim Sum Joint. (And it's pretty good .. but no muffins.)

This recipe is sweet and corn-crunchy. 

I like a corn muffin to taste more like corn than cake; and this one has a bold, corn flavor. It’ll shine at breakfast and also be a great addition to your savory bread-basket at dinner (you can reduce the sugar by 1/4 of a cup!)

I encourage you to use Bob’s Red Mill COARSE GRIND Corn Meal, mixed with regular or medium grind corn meal. It adds crunch, fiber and sweetness to these muffins. If you follow the above link to the site, it’s sold in four 24 oz. bags for $8.35. Pretty reasonable, and it keeps quite well. You can purchase it at Fairway Market or at any good independent market that carries Bob’s Red Mill’s line of products.

Always use whole milk when a recipe calls for ‘milk’. It’s also a good idea to use organic milk. It doesn’t come from cows treated with hormones or who have chomped on stuff that are all gmo’d.

When your refrigerated ingredients are at room temperature, they won’t ‘shock’ the daylights out of the rising agents. Bring them all down to room temperature – the milk, the eggs; and even the butter that you’re going to melt will melt faster if it’s out. (Anyone who lived without power for several days or more or who lives outside of this country knows that butter can be left out of the fridge and it will do you no harm – promise.)

These are great the day they’re made, for up to a few days. You can freeze them, so if you want corn muffins on your Thanksgiving Day table, you can start now!

Please remember to donate (click on this link to the Red Cross!). If you’re in the NY/NJ Metro area, you can donate clothes, food, time and money (whichever and whatever you can) to help those of us who have suffered and continue to suffer the damage that Sandy has incurred. Here is a link to the Huffington Post article: Hurricane Sandy: 10 Tips For Donating Smart

Stay warm, charged, gassed up and safe.

peace and love,

jane

Corn Muffins

Yield 24 Muffins (may be halved)

Ingredients:

12 Tbsp./6 oz. unsalted butter (I use Plugra, a higher fat content European style butter)

4 Tbsp. Canola Oil

2 C. Unbleached All Purpose Flour (Try King Arthur)

1 1/2 C. Stone Ground Yellow Cornmeal, spooned and leveled

1/2 C. Coarse Ground Yellow Cornmeal, spooned and leveled

1 C. Granulated Sugar (For a more savory muffin, use 3/4 c.)

2 Tbsp. Baking Powder (make sure it’s fresh!) (And YES, I do mean Tablespoons)

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt

4 eggs, size large, at room temperature

2 C. Whole Milk (preferably organic, at room temperature)

1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract (I use Baldwin’s from West Stockbridge!)

Procedure:

1.    Rack in oven to the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 400º F.

2.    Brown your butter in a heavy saucepan, melting it over low heat. Skim the foam as it forms (it helps to tilt the saucepan toward you!) The butter is ready when it’s a golden brown and it has a nutty fragrance. This should take about five minutes or so. Be careful to not burn the butter!

3.    Pour the browned butter into a glass measuring cup and add the Canola oil.

4.    Spoon a generous ½ tsp. of this mixture into each muffin cup. Use a pastry brush or some waxed paper to spread it around the cup.

5.    In a large bowl (always use a larger bowl than you pull out, you’ll be glad), whisk together all dry ingredients.

6.    In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.

7.     Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients (you can make a wish now) and pour in the wet ingredients, including the remaining butter/oil mixture. (If you’re doing this in two batches, be sure to reserve some butter/oil mixture for the second batch.

8.     Using a large rubber spatula, push the dry ingredients into the center from the sides of the bowl. Do Not Overmix. The batter will be loose and somewhat lumpy (like some body parts appear when you haven’t been exercising regularly.)

9.     Portion the batter into the muffin tin(s) using an ice cream scoop that has a ¼ c. capacity (or use a ¼ c. measuring cup, or wing it). The cups should be almost full.

10.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown and tops are spongy to the touch. If you’re baking on two racks, be sure to rotate your tins, top to bottom, front to back, half way through the bake.

11.  Place on rack to cool.