Cornbread

"A job well done!"

Hello followers! Wow, April already... Let's hope the good weather comes along with it!
So, today I am going to talk a bit about the Spring Cottage Life Show that happened last weekend at the International Centre in Mississauga. There, I did cooking demonstrations with cookbook author Jane Rodmell. As usual, we had a great time! All in all, I 'd say there were about 10 different people doing cooking demos over the 3 days, ranging anywhere from mussels to hamburgers to chicken wings! Definitely a great selection of cottage friendly fare. Jane was asked to demo two of her recipes, one from Cottage Life magazine and the other from her latest cookbook 'All the Best Recipes.' She decided that we would do an easy Thai style soup and super easy mini cornbread muffins. Now, I must admit (and I'm sure that some of you remember me saying...), that I really don't bake... Sure, we all learned the basic skills at Chef school and I can do it if need be, but I lack the practise to consider myself an expert. But, let me tell yah, this cornbread recipe is SO easy to make and is so tasty, that I can see myself making this quite often! Yum, yum!!

 Simple and Tasty Recipe:

 Cornbread
(makes 1x 23 cm or 9 inch square pan, or about 6 dozen minis)

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup butter, melted and cooled

.preheat oven to 400 degrees
.in a bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside
.in a large bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk and melted butter
.add flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until just blended, do not over mix
. spread batter in the greased and lined square pan, bake for 25 to 30 mins
or
.place heaping teaspoons of batter into greased mini muffin tins, bake for about 18 mins until firm and edges are browned, enjoy!

I told you it was easy!! Now, just about anything can be added to the batter to switch it up a bit! Add a cup of grated cheese, chopped scallion, fresh coriander, salsa, jalapeno peppers, corn kernels, black beans, etc.! Toss in a teaspoon or so of chili powder or cumin. Serve it with breakfast, chili or grill up a slice or two when you're having a BBQ. Or, you can add whatever toppin's you want to make the minis into perfect party bites (pictured above)! Turn this recipe into a sweet treat by adding a cup of fruit (we added blueberries during the demo), and sprinkle the top with some sugar before you bake it! Yum, yum, yum!
Alrighty followers, have a great weekend and get outside! Next week is a special event for my blog, so make sure you come back to find out what it is! Yay! Bye for now!

Here's a link to the other recipes that were demonstrated during the show, including Jane's Thai soup:
http://cottagefeast.cottagelife.com/2011/03/29/spring-cottage-life-show-recipes/